Wednesday, 20 February 2013 09:05
HMRC supports crackdown on Isle of Man tax evasion
The Government has announced an agreement with the Isle of Man to crack down on tax evasion.
This will allow investors with Isle of Man accounts to come forward and settle their affairs before account information is automatically reported to HM Revenue and Customs.
Under the automatic exchange agreement, a range of financial information on UK taxpayers with Isle of Man accounts will be reported to HMRC each year. This follows the UK-US agreement to improve international tax compliance.
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The disclosure facility will operate from 6 April 2013 until September 2016. Liabilities arising from April 1999 must be fully disclosed and there is a guarenteed penalty rate of 10 per cent for returns to be filed before April 2009 and 20 per cent thereafter.
Those under enquiry by HMRC will not be eligible to participate in the scheme and HMRC said it would seek "significantly higher" penalties for those accounts which it finds via the information sharing process.
Chancellor George Osborne said the agreements follows previous agreements with Switzerland and the USA and would be proceeded by one with Jersey and Guernsey.
He said: "The Government is committed to tackling tax evasion and this agreement will greatly enhance HMRC's ability to clamp down on those who try to hide their money offshore. I welcome the progress made with the Isle of Man and look forward to working on this new standard in the automatic exchange of tax information."
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This will allow investors with Isle of Man accounts to come forward and settle their affairs before account information is automatically reported to HM Revenue and Customs.
Under the automatic exchange agreement, a range of financial information on UK taxpayers with Isle of Man accounts will be reported to HMRC each year. This follows the UK-US agreement to improve international tax compliance.
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
The disclosure facility will operate from 6 April 2013 until September 2016. Liabilities arising from April 1999 must be fully disclosed and there is a guarenteed penalty rate of 10 per cent for returns to be filed before April 2009 and 20 per cent thereafter.
Those under enquiry by HMRC will not be eligible to participate in the scheme and HMRC said it would seek "significantly higher" penalties for those accounts which it finds via the information sharing process.
Chancellor George Osborne said the agreements follows previous agreements with Switzerland and the USA and would be proceeded by one with Jersey and Guernsey.
He said: "The Government is committed to tackling tax evasion and this agreement will greatly enhance HMRC's ability to clamp down on those who try to hide their money offshore. I welcome the progress made with the Isle of Man and look forward to working on this new standard in the automatic exchange of tax information."
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