These new agreements involve a planned automatic exchange of information from 2015 on all accounts held in these offshore areas. They include a disclosure facility to allow UK resident investors with accounts to come forward and settle their past UK tax affairs before information on their accounts is automatically shared between the governments. Similar arrangements are expected to be announced for Luxembourg.
If you know of anyone with an undeclared account in any of these offshore islands do please help them (and us!) by kindly referring them as we will be able to get the best tax deal possible. That can involve penalties at a low rate of 10% or 20% in some cases.
The disclosure facility operates from 6 April 2013 until September 2016. It will not be open to individuals already under investigation but will cover liabilities dating back to April 1999 at the earliest.
These types of arrangements are proving a real money spinner for HMRC. They were originally expected to bring in over £5billion over the next six years but they have upped that to £9billion based on what they have collected so far!
