Tax & Accounting News

Banks told to reveal overseas account details

14/08/2009

Over 300 UK and foreign banks have been ordered to hand over details of UK taxpayers who hold offshore accounts.

The Tax Chamber – a new body set up to oversee tax disputes – has agreed to a request from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to issue compulsory disclosure notices to 308 banks and financial institutions operating in the UK.

This follows a similar demand made of the UK’s ‘big five’ High Street banks in 2007, which raised around £450m from 45,000 people.

People with undeclared tax liabilities have been offered the chance to reveal it under the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO), which runs until next March, and the latest ruling means HMRC will be able to identify overseas accounts anyway – providing a clear incentive for people to declare any untaxed money now, and pay the NDO’s more lenient penalties.

Harris Lipman head of tax Martina Fitzgerald said: “It is clear that HMRC are very serious about cracking down on people who avoid tax by stashing their money overseas.

“The powers they now have mean it is unlikely anyone will be able to hide assets for much longer, and there is a real incentive now to make a disclosure under the New Disclosure Opportunity, rather than waiting for HMRC to find out and potentially charge a much larger penalty.”

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