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Individuals who use offshore bank accounts to dodge taxes will be fooling themselves if they do not make use of HMRC’s New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO), according to the department’s Dave Hartnett.
In a new online video, Mr Hartnett warns tax evaders that they will be hunted down and possibly jailed if they do not come forward before the end of this month with details of undeclared income and assets.
‘Offshore tax dodgers who don’t come forward will be found out and will be penalised. If you think you can ignore this opportunity, you’re really burying your head in the sand,' the Revenue’s permanent secretary for tax tells viewers of the two-minute clip.
It be watched on YouTube. Visitors should search for ‘HMRC NDO’.
‘This is not a hollow threat. The financial penalties can be up to 100% of the tax you haven’t paid, or you could go to jail,’ adds Mr Hartnett, who ends his straight-to-camera exhortation by claiming there will not be another of HMRC’s so-called ‘tax amnesties’.
The chances are, however, that the Revenue may offer more disclosure opportunities in the future.
Last week, the department told Taxation that it is ‘talking to tax havens in respect of accounts opened through banks over which we have no information powers’, raising the possibility of more Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility-style schemes.
