Tax amnesty to net lower returns
ACCOUNTANCY firms have warned that only a tiny proportion of the UK residents avoiding tax by squirrelling away income to offshore accounts will have come clean by the time the government’s amnesty deadline passes at midnight tonight.
HM Revenue & Customs hopes to raise £500m from the crackdown, with fines limited to 10 per cent for those owning up before the deadline, after which liabilities are set to increase steeply. Fines will rise to at least 30 per cent of the tax owed and up to 100 per cent, with criminal investigations threatened in some cases.