Taxman's new amnesties pull in £91m: McGrigors

The taxman has dredged up £91m of previously undeclared tax through two amnesties allowing those with hidden offshore accounts to come forward.

Law firm McGrigors found that HM Revenue & Customs generated £91m from the New Disclosure Opportunity and the Tax Health Plan.

The first amnesty, called the Offshore Disclosure Facility, generated £450m in 2007.

but the taxman has also opened up be taken compared to £450m from the UK’s first ever tax amnesty – the – in 2007, says McGrigors, the leading commercial law firm and tax investigation specialists.[1]

According to the data, the NDO yielded £82m from approximately 5,500 disclosures – an average of £14,500 per disclosure.

The THP yielded about £9m from approximately 1,500 disclosures – an average of £6,500 per disclosure, McGrigors said.

The firm believed the "failure" of HMRC to punish tax evaders after its first tax amnesty in 2007, and the perception among taxpayers that there will be further tax amnesties, has undermined the response to the NDO and the THP.

Phil Berwick, director of tax investigations at McGrigors, comments: "These figures will be hugely disappointing for HMRC. With every amnesty there seems to be diminishing returns. These two amnesties brought in less than 20% of the cash of the first one.”

“With each disclosure facility HMRC gathers information on taxpayers, but there have yet to be any prosecutions at all of tax evaders who failed to respond to the first amnesty in 2007. It’s one of those rare occasions where HMRC can be criticised for being all carrot and no stick.”

Howver, the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility, widely regarded as the taxman's most ambitious project, has had more than 700 people coming forward to pay their undeclared liabilities and runs until 2015.

The taxman is hoping undeclared offshore account holders will identify themselves as key legislation comes into effect in Liechtenstein later this year.

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