Peering through the fog

Key points * What information does HMRC have? * How will information be linked to taxpayers? * A review of the offshore arrangements project. * Exchanging information with other countries. * Should the client 'wait and see' or disclose now?

DICKENS AND DISNEY both shared the view of the UK as an island shrouded in dense mist and it seems that tax inspectors have long shared that image. The inspectors have been frustrated in their belief that huge sums of tax are being evaded in the UK by people hiding part of their affairs behind a thick fog on the Channel and Irish Sea but HMRC now seem to be penetrating that haze with a number of projects aimed at bringing the evaded tax 'booty' back onshore.

Offshore bank accounts

Much of the discussion of the offshore disclosure facility (ODF) has focussed on the production orders served...