Pictured: Mike Tuhme

Mike Tuhme, director of tax at the Derby office of RSM Tenon, has today welcomed news that HMRC has drafted an agreement between the UK and Swiss governments to collect unpaid tax from UK tax payers.   

The agreement, which is expected to come into force in 2013, will see the Swiss authorities tax the bank accounts of UK citizens, and transfer outstanding monies to HM Treasury without revealing the identity of account holders. 

Mike Tuhme said: "This looks like a good deal for both the Swiss and UK authorities. Within the UK recently we've seen a number of HMRC initiatives being announced, and this signals the most significant crackdown on tax havens yet.

"While we haven't seen all the details yet, we believe that with a deduction of between 19 to 34 per cent, and some individuals being specifically excluded from the terms of the agreement, it might still be beneficial for some to use existing schemes such as the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility to put their affairs straight."

Under the new agreement, HMRC will also be able to request the account details of up to 500 people a year that they suspect are evading tax, whether the account holder authorises their bank to do so or not.

UK tax payers with Swiss accounts are expected to pay a one-off deduction of between 19 and 34 per cent to settle past tax liabilities, and this could be worth billions of pounds to HM Treasury. 

Account holders will also face a levy on the income of their accounts of between 27 and 48 per cent depending on whether it has come as a result of certain capital gains, dividends or interest. 

The agreement follows the announcement two weeks ago that the Swiss and German governments had agreed to cooperate on tax matters, including on how untaxed monies held in Switzerland will be taxed, historically and for the future.