16/08/18

UK taxman does Monaco roadshow in tax avoidance crackdown

(International Investment) -- The legislative changes refer to Corporate Criminal Offences (CCO) and the HMRC ‘Requirement to Correct’ (RTC) that legally obliges taxpayers who have undeclared UK tax liabilities in respect of offshore interests to tell HMRC about outstanding tax due by September 30, 2018.

This gives tax payers the opportunity to put their affairs in order before tougher penalties come into force in October 2018, says HMRC.

Under the rules, actions like renting out a property abroad, transferring income and assets from one country to another, or even renting out a UK property when living abroad could mean taxpayers face a tax bill in the UK.

Other examples of offshore assets include art, bank and other savings accounts, boats, life assurance policies and pensions.

The new failure to correct penalty is likely to be much higher than existing penalties, with a minimum penalty of 100% of the tax involved.

The roadshow will be on September 6, with the venue still to be announced.

From 1 October more than 100 countries, including the UK, will be able to exchange data on financial accounts under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

CRS data will significantly enhance HMRC’s ability to detect offshore non-compliance and it is in taxpayers’ interests to correct any non-compliance before that data is received.

More than 17,000 people have already contacted HMRC to notify the department about tax due from sources of foreign income, such as their holiday homes and overseas properties, reports International Investment.