HMRC probes Euro Pacific Bank customers for possible tax evasion

HMRC is writing to 600 people in the UK who used the Euro Pacific Bank (EPB) asking them to check their tax position and make any corrections to their tax affairs.

The Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions suspended the operations of the EPB on 30 June 2022 for breaching its capital requirements. It has since entered a liquidation process.

EPB was at the centre of a global day of action by the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement (J5) in 2020 as part of an investigation into suspected tax evasion and money laundering.

HMRC has already launched criminal investigations into UK customers of the bank and more could follow into those who fail to make necessary corrections to their tax affairs. The tax authority is urging UK customers to make disclosures under the worldwide disclosure facility.

Simon York HMRC’s director of...