Aircraft Registration Asset Protection Bank Accounts Company Administration Company Incorporation Film Administration & Co-production Inheritance Planning Intellectual Property Structures International Trade Structures Property Ownership Structures Royalties & Intellectual Property Tax Planning Tax Residency Certificates Trusts VAT/TVA Services Yacht Registration   Sophisticated answers for tax planning, asset protection & inheritance planning.           Name:      E-Mail:       Copyright  © 2008 ILS Group | Privacy Policy

Newsletter | Articles Four More Banks to be Forced to Disclose Taxpayer Details Four of the UK’s high street banks will be forced to hand over details of their clients’ offshore bank accounts after HM Revenue and Customs won another legal victory in its battle against offshore tax evasion. The banks are understood to be HSBC, HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB and the details of about 100,000 of their customers will be revealed to Revenue and Customs. The ruling in favour of the UK tax authority, which is expected to bring in £275 million in unpaid tax, was delivered by the Finance and Tax Tribunals Special Commissioners. Special Commissioner John Avery Jones said: “In my view, the information that the Revenue has already obtained raises serious questions that merit investigation and cannot be investigated by any other means.” Officials will now search for information on UK domiciled individuals who have not declared income on money kept in offshore centres such as the Channel Islands. However, it is thought unlikely the ruling will force the disclosure of bank accounts of some other offshore jurisdictions, including Switzerland. It has been legal to hold money offshore since 1979, but it is illegal to conceal the interest earned. To reduce its burden on investigators Revenue and Customs is encouraging individuals with undeclared offshore accounts to come forward. It plans to offer reduced penalties of 10 per cent of the maximum for a limited period although investors would still face a bill for up to 20 years of unpaid tax and interest. Under the proposals, investors will be given six weeks to disclose the existence of an offshore account, with a further four months to make a complete disclosure and pay the tax bill. The tight timetable has alarmed advisers, who say that investors will be unable to get adequate advice over such a short period. The banks declined to confirm they were the subject of the ruling. Barclays was the subject of a similar ruling in April last year, which Revenue and Customs believed could yield £1.5bn in unpaid tax.