HMRC New Disclosure Opportunity

HMRC have announced some details of the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) which is due to take place this autumn. In order to encourage taxpayers to disclose an undeclared offshore account the penalty level has been set at 10%. HMRC hope that the low penalty will encourage taxpayers to come forward. HMRC are currently liaising with various banks to obtain details for offshore account holders.

“The key messages provided by HMRC are as follows:

• The New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) is for people with unpaid tax connected to an offshore account and will run from the autumn 2009 until March 2010. It will give the offshore account holders one final opportunity to disclose, and put their affairs in order.
• Penalty of 10% for full disclosure if no previous opportunity. Higher for full disclosure if you had the chance under previous opportunity.
• HMRC is seeking to obtain details of offshore accounts and assets from hundreds of financial institutions. This ensures HMRC will be able to pursue those who choose not to disclose tax owed as quickly as possible.
• During the disclosure period, all account holders will know that HMRC has, or will soon have, their details. We have already successfully applied to get details from a number of banks.”

We will keep you informed of developments in this area, meanwhile if you have any concerns please do get in touch.

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