Amnesty or Revenue Trap – OffShore Disclosure Initiative

H M Revenue & Customs has been very busy since it offered its last Amnesty in 2007 and has collected a large amount of information from a wide range of banks and financial institutions.

Comparatively few people took advantage of that amnesty and Tax Investigators are still determined to collect as much tax as possible from people with offshore investments.

In addition to obtaining information from High Street, Merchant and Personal Banks, HM Revenue & Customs has now secured an agreement with Liechtenstein whereby they will receive full details of investments held within the last ten years in that country by anybody with a connection to the UK.

A new, and final, Amnesty is now available. Basically, people who voluntarily disclose previously non-returned income, gains and assets held offshore since before 30 November 2009 will only have to pay a 10% penalty. The maximum penalty could be as much as 100%. The specific dates to remember are as follows:-

  • Your intention to disclose, on paper, must be between 1 September and 30 November 2009. The Disclosure, with payment, to be made by 31 January 2010.
  • Notification electronically must be made between 1 October and 30 November 2009. The Disclosure, with payment, to be made by 12 March 2010.
  • You have to calculate the tax, interest and penalty yourself.

This may seem attractive but there are major pitfalls. The investigator will not confine himself, or herself, to the offshore accounts declared; the investigator may well decide to investigate the whole of your business life – going back 20 years – and will charge interest and penalties if any additional tax liability is established.

In addition, the terms of this Amnesty do not apply to those who could have taken advantage of the 2007 Amnesty and those people still run the risk of being prosecuted when H M Revenue & Customs track them down.

Anybody who has had an offshore bank account, or other investments or structures, should be extremely cautious about this Amnesty and seek the advice of Cobham Murphy Limited’s ex-H M Revenue & Customs high level Investigation Team to maximise the opportunity available through the Amnesty and also to minimise the exposure to over-stated assessments and the imposition of large penalties by an Investigator desperate to make up lost ground and to collect vast amounts of money from people like them.

If you wish to take up the opportunity to take the weight off your mind and to achieve the best possible outcome for your situation, then you should talk to Morag Collins or John Green at Cobham Murphy Limited – immediately.

John Green leads a team of ex-Inland Revenue high level fraud investigators, with vast experience in negotiating the best possible outcomes from difficult investigation scenarios for their clients and the clients of other firms of accountants and solicitors, both within the United Kingdom and throughout Europe.

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