Taxman urged to publicise amnesty
Second tax amnesty should be publicised say tax advisers
Tax advisers are urging HM Revenue & Customs to launch an advertising
campaign to publicise its second offshore tax amnesty.
Last week Accountancy Age reported that as many as 500 financial
institutions will receive letters from HMRC by the end of this month asking them
to disclose details of UK tax payers with offshore accounts. An estimated 100,000
taxpayers were targeted in the first amnesty in 2007, and 60,000 came forward
with information under the terms of the scheme. It netted HMRC approximately
£450m.
Mike Down, chairman of Baker Tilly’s tax risk and investigations management
group, said: ‘I don’t think the first amnesty was advertised enough. They put it
on the website and relied on the profession to get the message out.’
Bill Dodwell, tax partner at Deloitte, said: ‘The only way to reach everyone
is through an advertising campaign.’
HMRC was unable to comment before going to press.