Tougher sanctions on tax dodgers are expected to be unveiled next month, intensifying the pressure on holders of secret offshore accounts to sign up for an “amnesty” which was on Friday extended until the new year.
Revenue & Customs pushed forward the deadline for registering for its “new disclosure opportunity”, which offers tax evaders reduced penalties and a lower risk of prosecution, from November 30 to January 4.
The extension, which had been expected by advisers, is a bid to increase take-up of the initiative.
Many of the 308 banks served legal notices in August requiring them to divulge account details have not yet handed over the information, in some cases because they are still appealing against the notices. The extensions will mean more of this information will be handed over to the Revenue, allowing them to alert individuals directly. It will also give banks more time to alert their customers to disclosure initiatives which are also under way in France and Italy.
Tax advisers are expecting a stiffening of the penalty regime in next month’s pre-Budget report, amid speculation that fines could be increased to more than 100 per cent of the tax due.
Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at Revenue & Customs, said: “We know that some bank customers will not be contacted by their banks in good time for the original deadline of November 30, so in the interests of fairness we have decided to extend our deadline by a month to January 4.”
Gary Ashford of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: “This is a sensible and realistic move which recognises the lack of time under the original deadlines.”
Paul Roberts of Grant Thornton, a professional services firm, said the extension was unsurprising given the slow initial take-up of the initiative. But he warned that even though the registration period had been extended, the deadlines for submitting full details of the disclosures were unchanged.
Taxpayers will have to collect up to 20 years of data about their offshore accounts to meet the deadline of the end of January for paper submissions and 12 March for online disclosures.
Tax evaders who come forward under the initiative face a fixed penalty of 10 per cent of the tax owed unless they were customers of the five high street banks targeted in a 2007 amnesty, who face a 20 per cent penalty.
