Pictured above: Jeff Millington, director of tax
investigations at BTG Tax
New penalties due to take effect for 2011/12 will make it even
more unwise to try to hide offshore income and gains.
That is the warning to business from Jeff Millington, director
of tax investigations at Birmingham-based BTG Tax.
He cautioned that penalties would now be based on tax lost as a
result of inaccuracy in a return, the behaviour of the taxpayer,
the degree to which that taxpayer had disclosed to HM Revenue &
Customs and, under the new rules, the location of the undisclosed
income or capital gains.
Non-compliers faced a levy up to 100 per cent of tax lost, and,
in countries where there was no agreement to share information with
the UK or, any existing agreement fell short of international
standards, up to 200 per cent.
Mr Millington said: "This increased penalty should be borne in
mind for all individuals and companies when making a disclosure to
HMRC. It cannot be negotiated away, merely mitigated on the same
basis as penalties applying to UK liabilities - by way of full and
voluntary disclosure and cooperation with HMRC.
"Offshore bank account information held by HMRC, and
ever-increasing levels of cooperation between various territories
and the UK, means the discovery of undeclared funds overseas is
increasingly likely."
For more information about Begbies Traynor, please visit their
website here: www.begbies-traynorgroup.com