HMRC underused HSBC data, PAC claims

HMRC underused HSBC data, PAC claims

HMRC did not adequately use the data provided from the HSBC data leak to pursue UK tax evaders, the Public Accounts Committee suggests

NOT ENOUGH was made of data handed to HM Revenue & Customs relating to at least 6,000 UK residents evading tax with secret HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland, the Public Accounts Committee has claimed.

In 2008, HMRC received thousands of documents showing the offshore accounts and assets of rich British customers, originally stolen from HSBC’s Geneva office by a disgruntled IT worker named Hervé Falciani in 2007. This week, those documents were passed onto dozens of news outlets by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

HMRC has used the data to identify around 1,100 people who had dodged their tax liabilities in this way. That evidence was used to find property millionaire Michael Shanly guilty of tax evasion, after he held his late mother’s money in an offshore account and chose not to disclose it to HM Revenue & Customs. Eventually, he pleaded guilty and was hit with an £800,000 bill. He is still the only successful prosecution to have followed the data.

While HMRC has raised £135m on the back of the cache, the PAC chairwoman Margaret Hodge accused the tax authority of being too soft.

“If HMRC can be bothered to catch you, you might have to pay, you won’t face prosecution, you’ll get away with it. This is a rotten message to give to taxpayers,” she said.

HMRC chief executive Lin Homer (pictured) told the committee the authority “would have liked” to have pursued more criminal prosecutions “if we had met the [criminal] threshold,” but added many had not.

However, she did say more prosecutions could follow when the data is handed over to police to pursue for other offences including money laundering.

Homer added most of the information leaked via the French authorities in 2010 was incomplete or “dirty” data.

She said around 3,200 individuals were traced originally and, of the 1,100 most serious cases – which HMRC had chosen to pursue – only 130 were now outstanding.

Share

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Resources & Whitepapers

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata
Professional Services

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folders and Embrace Metadata

3y

Why Professional Services Firms Should Ditch Folde...

In the past decade, the professional services industry has transformed significantly. Digital disruptions, increased competition, and changing market ...

View resource
2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professional Services Firms

3y

2 Vital keys to Remaining Competitive for Professi...

In recent months, professional services firms are facing more pressure than ever to deliver value to clients. Often, clients look at the firms own inf...

View resource
Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine
Accounting Firms

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

3y

Turn Accounts Payable into a value-engine

In a world of instant results and automated workloads, the potential for AP to drive insights and transform results is enormous. But, if you’re still ...

View resource
Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021
Making Tax Digital

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

3y

Digital Links: A guide to MTD in 2021

The first phase of Making Tax Digital (MTD) saw the requirement for the digital submission of the VAT Return using compliant software. That’s now behi...

View resource