Hit squads 'will move in after amnesty'

Offshore tax evaders are set to feel the full force of the taxman’s wrath if they fail to take part in the offshore amnesty announced this week, the taxman has made clear.

The body told Accountancy Age that it will be sending out enquiry letters the day after the amnesty closes, to all those who have not confessed to unpaid liabilities.

The offshore amnesty ends on 22 June, after which elite staff from HM Revenue & Customs’ special civil investigations unit are already prepared to strike at tax evaders, having worked in parallel with plans to introduce the offshore disclosure facility.

‘They’re responsible for heavy duty investigation and high-level enquiries and are good to go. Letters will go out straight after the disclosure deadline and chances of mitigation will be severely restricted,’ said a spokesman.

The unit was formed as part of the restructuring of HMRC and is a re-badging of the special compliance office.

Although HMRC would not refer to the facility as an amnesty, it allows offshore account holders to make a disclosure before 22 June, and pay back tax and interest for up to 20 years along with a 10% penalty by 26 November.

The scheme follows HMRC gaining access to the five major bank offshore accounts, with billions of pounds in unpaid tax at stake.

The amnesty also includes disclosures made by onshore tax evaders. But any type of disclosure that is found to be materially incorrect or incomplete will fall outside of the penalty set in the amnesty. No penalty will be faced by disclosures of untaxed amounts totalling less than £2,500.

Further Reading:

HMRC reveals tax 'amnesty'