Tax Amnesty: What information do HMRC have relating to the operation of offshore bank accounts?  

If you have not declared your offshore account to HMRC what information do they have from the banks?

As has been widely speculated HMRC will offer a tax amnesty and have set up a telephone line to specifically deal with this.

It has also been widely publicised that HMRC have been successful in getting information notices granted against the major banks which in effect means that the banks have to disclose certain information about an individual who is resident in the UK who has a bank account in an offshore jurisdiction.

The wealth of this information has resulted in HMRC considering some form of tax amnesty (or offshore disclosure scheme as it is not a true tax amnesty).So what information have HMRC been given permission to seek?

It is rumoured that the following information has been given by at least one of the banks:

• The name and address of the individual suspected by HMRC of tax fraud.
• The account number of any offshore bank accounts operated.
• The date the offshore bank account was opened and, if appropriate, closed.
• The transaction information from each offshore bank account for the following months:
  • February 2000
  • July 2000
  • February 2001
  • March 2002
  • December 2003
  • August 2004

Thus, if this information is correct, HMRC will have significant information about the offshore bank accounts and the minimum period where they consider the tax fraud has occurred.

As is speculated in earlier articles it is envisaged that the information provided by the banks will result in a significant increase in the tax yield for the government and a reduction in what HMRC consider to be tax fraud.

Whether the tax amnesty proves to be a success remains to be seen and only time will tell. Even if people do not take advantage of the tax amnesty HMRC will have a significant basis for high quality tax investigations into suspected tax fraud for a number of years to come.

If you would like to discuss any possible disclosure to HMRC or any matter to do with the potential tax amnesty or how to deal with any tax evasion difficulties please phone 0800 734 3333 or e-mail scott.gilbert@gilberttax.co.uk now

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