Offshore accounts targeted

HMRC have launched a new media campaign on 24 February 2014 to target offshore account holders say Harris & Co accountants Northampton

The campaign, which will run in national newspapers and weekly magazines, follows the G20 group of finance ministers’ further demonstration of its shared commitment to tackling global tax avoidance and evasion through agreements made at the recent G20 meeting in Australia.

The UK has already entered into information-sharing agreements with its Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories. It will also move quickly to implement the new global standard to automatic tax information exchange on a multilateral basis.

So far 42 countries and jurisdictions have joined this initiative which will lead to the rapid embedding of the new global standard and the removal of hiding places for tax evaders as HMRC uses new information to clamp down on tax evasion.

Jennie Granger, HMRC’s Director General for Enforcement and Compliance, said:

‘We are getting more and more information that helps us to target offshore tax cheats more effectively than ever before. If you have assets offshore you need to get in touch with us urgently, because we will catch up with you. That can mean a fine of 200 per cent of the tax that you owe, and the possibility of criminal prosecution and a prison sentence’