Undeclared Income from Offshore Bank Accounts

Millions of individuals with offshore bank accounts are being urged to bring their tax affairs up to date.

HMRC is set to receive information about overseas banks accounts held by individuals. The data will allow HMRC to target individuals it has evidence to suggest have unpaid tax liabilities.

As part of a Global Transparency Drive, HMRC will be handed information about bank accounts and assets held by individuals in more than 100 countries.

Many individuals will be unaware that they have a requirement to declare the income and gains generated by these bank accounts or assets to HMRC, even if they live abroad.

For some, this may have gone unnoticed for a number of years and HMRC will be actively looking to focus on such cases to in order recover the unpaid tax.

To assist HMRC in recovering unpaid tax on offshore accounts and assets, a legal requirement has been created which means tax advisers and financial institutions are obliged to write to their clients in order to warn them of the risk if their tax affairs are not up to date with HMRC.

Holders of offshore bank accounts are being warned of financial penalties and even criminal prosecution in extreme cases if they are found to have undeclared tax liabilities.

For many, the time to act is now in order to clarify their current tax position. Our team of experienced tax advisers can assist in establishing whether tax is owed to HMRC.

If an individual does have undeclared tax liabilities, we can then advise on the best options for bringing affairs up to date through a voluntary tax disclosure.

For those with bank accounts and assets held overseas the Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF)is just one option available. This option can help mitigate against financial penalties.

If HMRC opens an investigation into an individual it suspects of tax avoidance, they could be faced with backdated payments of up to 20 years, along with interest on the amount of tax owed. There is also a risk of facing a criminal prosecution.

To clarify your tax position in complete confidence, you can talk to our team of tax disclosures professionals.

Call us on 0113 387 5670, email enquiries@forthsonline.co.uk or fill out an Enquiry Form and we will contact you directly.