HMRC-New Disclosure Opportunity from Autumn 2009

Thursday, 30 April 2009

In the recent Budget the Chancellor announced a new disclosure opportunity for UK residents with unpaid tax connected to an offshore account. The disclosure will run for a limited period only and the groundwork needs to be started now so that information can be gathered so that the disclosure is complete and stands up to scrutiny. As part of the disclosure HMRC will, where appropriate, seek the duties owed, interest and a penalty. It is often possible to negotiate instalment arrangements and it is likely that the penalty charged as part of this voluntary arrangement will be less than that normally charged. Peace of mind could be achieved by taking advantage of this opportunity.The 2009 Budget also delivered another message clearly demonstrating the continued change in approach and attitude. HMRC propose to publish on their website

Names of individuals, businesses and companies who are penalised for deliberately understating tax due, or overstating claims or losses of more than £25,000
Taxpayers who are penalised for deliberately failing to notify HMRC when required to do so ,leading to a loss of tax of more than £25,000.
Taxpayers who are penalised for deliberately committing certain VAT and excise wrongdoings, leading to a loss of tax of more than £25,000
Taxpayers who make an unprompted disclosure or a full prompted disclosure within the required time will not be affected.

Sufficient details will be published on the HMRC website to ensure that the correct person is clearly identified along with the extent of the default .

We would not expect that anyone for whom we acted to be’ named and shamed ’in view of the way that we will handle the enquiry on your behalf.

Contact: Paul Bradley

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