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Finance Act 2009, s 94 comes into force on 1 April. This will give HMRC the power to 'name and shame' taxpayers where it is established that they have committed certain serious tax offences.
It is planned that names and other details will be published on the Revenue's website. Because this measure will only be applied for periods starting from 1 April, it is not expected that any individuals will be exposed before the first half of 2011.
Taxpayers who may be named are those who have deliberately evaded tax of more than £25,000 in total. If they make a full disclosure of any tax wrongs without delay, they can avoid having details put online.
Stephen Camm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP likened the new measure to ‘ASBOs for tax evaders’ and said it could cause ‘a lot of damage to the individual's personal and commercial reputation'.
He added, 'It may a seem insensitive to name and shame in this way, but it will have a bigger impact for some than a straightforward financial penalty, demolishing the facade of respectability that they would have previously maintained.'
