HMRC collects £400m from offshore account holders
Revenue collections to swell to £500m as individuals with large and complex foreign accounts given more time to settle unpaid tax
Revenue collections to swell to £500m as individuals with large and complex foreign accounts given more time to settle unpaid tax
An estimated 45,000 UK offshore account holders have confessed to unpaid tax
bills to HM Revenue & Customs.
The individuals owned up under the partial amnesty arrangements offered by
the HMRC.
Government registered a total of £400m in tax payments as taxpayers rapidly
sought to take advantage of the 10% penalty cap offered by the taxman for
payments made by November 26.
The highest amount paid in by an individual was £3m while the average payment
was £9,000, a
report
said.
Revenue admitted however that the amount still fell short of the estimated
£1.75bn owed by customers of five high street bank, who were forced to own up to
holding offshore accounts by court orders.
But the total amount paid in could increase to £500m when payments by
individuals of particularly large and complex offshore holdings – who have been
given extra time to make their payments – finally settled their unpaid tax
bills.
HMRC is now considering whether it should offer a similar cap to customers of
170 other banks, after it obtains court orders compelling disclosure of offshore
account information.
Further reading:
Ringfencing amnesty would be a nightmare
HMRC backtracks on second tax amnesty
THE BIG QUESTION: SECOND OFFSHORE TAX
AMNESTY?