This Disclosure Facility is now closed. The information on this page is provided for reference.
In effect if a UK citizen has a Swiss bank account open on 31 December 2010 and which remains open on 31 May 2013 if they have not given authority for the Swiss Bank to provide details of the account to the UK authorities then the whole of the asset base in the account will be subject to a tax of between 21 and 41%.
This tax will be used by the Swiss Banks to fund a payment to the UK authorities and will in effect be an anonymous franking of certain tax liabilities for the person who has the deduction made. It should be noted that this does not cover all taxes or necessarily all years which HMRC could raise a tax investigation in relation to.
The individual will be sent details of the deduction which they should keep as evidence should the y be subject to tax investigation.
These people will also have withholding tax deducted from any investment income going forward after 31 May 2013.
The HMRC fact sheet relating to the UK- Swiss Tax Agreement is here.
It is important to note that by paying the deduction and the withholding tax this does not exonerate the individual from the risk of a tax investigation or from the potential charge to interest and penalties, merely most tax liabilities relating to the assets on which the charge is made.
If the account holder has given permission for the Swiss Authorities to pass on details of their account to the UK then they will not be subject to a deduction and will not have withholding tax deducted.
Going forward HMRC will be able to request in certain circumstances the Swiss Authorities for information relating to UK residents whom have Swiss Bank Accounts or Investments. This is restricted to the number of accounts and the identity of the provider of the account and it has to be on an individual basis. These requests have to be made by HMRC's Offshore Coordination Unit which was set up to target offshore tax evasion.
It is clear that the G8 and OECD nations are determined that holding offshore assets to assist in tax evasion comes to an end.
HMRC are offering at the moment a number of offshore disclosure facilities are an ideal opportunity for people to regularise their tax affairs (or that of their business). The current offshore disclosure facilities are as follows:
Gilbert Tax understands that people sometimes make mistakes in their dealings with HMRC and that HMRC make mistakes in dealing with taxpayers. Many people do not know how to deal with HMRC or who to turn to for help resolve the tax dispute.
Gilbert Tax is a firm of tax advisors who specialise in resolving people's problems with HMRC. We have extensive expertise in dealing with all forms of tax investigations and tax disputes as well as with taking matters to the Tax Tribunal where agreement cannot be reached.
Gilbert Tax deal both directly with the individual who is under enquiry and also work with many firms of accountants supporting them in dealing with HMRC disputes and advising them on how to handle HRMC to get the best result.
The fact is that proper management of HMRC is the best way of reducing the tax, interest and penalty as well as the time taken in resolving any tax dispute.
Gilbert Tax are none judgemental and rigorously defend your position within the scope and parameter of the law. We take control and manage the process to minimise the interruptions that any form of tax investigation causes to an individual's life and business.
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