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An overwhelming majority of accountants believe HMRC should introduce a nationwide amnesty for taxpayers, according to Crowe Clark Whitehill.
A study by the national accountancy firm – intended to measure perceptions and opinions of the Revenue’s current amnesties and taskforces – was told by 96% of respondents that a general disclosure mechanism (GDM) would encourage tax evaders to come clean and put extra money into the public purse.
An overwhelming majority of accountants believe HMRC should introduce a nationwide amnesty for taxpayers, according to Crowe Clark Whitehill.
A study by the national accountancy firm – intended to measure perceptions and opinions of the Revenue’s current amnesties and taskforces – was told by 96% of respondents that a general disclosure mechanism (GDM) would encourage tax evaders to come clean and put extra money into the public purse.
Almost the same proportion of the 120 accountants polled for Time for a General Tax Amnesty? (94%) insisted the terms of the GDM should be at least as beneficial as those of the Liechtenstein disclosure facility, which was seen to favour wealthy evaders.
The taxman’s anti-evasion initiatives discriminate against ‘blue collar’ offenders, claimed 71% of respondents. The average person with tax irregularities should be given the same disclosure opportunities as those available to rich holders of overseas bank accounts.
Crowe Clark Whitehill’s head of tax investigations, Sean Wakeman, said, “A general amnesty would prompt people to come forward to pay voluntarily, with more funds flowing into HMRC’s coffers.
“One might argue this is more important than pursuing a few high-profile, expensive tax-evader prosecutions with little net additional gain.”
Wakeman added that the results of the survey provided “compelling evidence… that the time for HMRC to introduce a single, uniform and well-planned domestic tax amnesty is now”.
Such a measure “would have the unequivocal backing of the accountancy profession, and would over time reduce instances of tax evasion in this country”, he said.
