'Offshore HMRC initiative to net ?5bn'
Grant Thornton calculates winnings from new Offshore Disclosure Initiative
HM Revenue & Customs is set to
recoup £5bn in unpaid tax from its introduction of an Offshore Disclosure
Initiative, according to an estimate from Grant Thornton UK.
The amnesty offer encourages UK tax payers with undisclosed offshore bank
accounts to come forward and voluntarily disclose these omissions.
They will have to pay tax and interest due on any undeclared income but the
carrot being offered is a mitigated penalty of only 10%, which is much lower
than the usual penalty that would be imposed.
Paul Roberts, tax investigations partner at
Grant Thornton, said: ‘The
amnesty in Ireland worked marvellously well for their Treasury, netting some
£580m. Here in the UK it has already been estimated that about £1.5bn in unpaid
tax could be sitting in the
Barclays
Bank offshore accounts alone, the details of which have already been passed
to the taxman as part of a request for information.
Further reading:
HMRC reveals tax ‘amnesty’
Advisers move to snatch tax amnesty work
US taxman eyes offshore vehicles