Assessment and penalties for undisclosed tax liabilities

The past few years have seen a raft of new measures to extend HMRC’s ability to recover previously undisclosed tax liabilities and to assess related penalties. Many of these provisions overlap and attempting to chart a course through the legislation presents a challenging task.

This article looks at where we are now specifically in terms of assessment periods for income tax and capital gains tax (CGT) and the associated penalties for errors.

Tables 1 and 2 summarise the main sections of the legislation relevant to assessment time limits and penalties. The offshore asset moves enablers of offshore tax evasion and asset-based penalty regimes are mentioned for completeness but will not be covered in detail.

Case study – Victoria

Victoria has recently been taken on as a new client of Prince Albert & Co Chartered Accountants.

During the course...