UK Offshore Disclosure Facility nets £400 million
Some 45,000 UK holders of offshore bank accounts have voluntarily disclosed previously undeclared tax liabilities under the partial amnesty offered by HM Revenue & Customs.
A total of £400 million was paid into the Treasury by the 26 November deadline, as taxpayers sought to take advantage of the 10% penalty cap incentive. The largest payment was £3 million while the average was £9,000.
But the total is far short of the £1.75 billion that the Revenue initially estimated was owed by customers of five high street banks, which were obliged by legal rulings to hand over their offshore account details.
But the total amount paid in could increase to £500m when payments by individuals of particularly large and complex offshore holdings - who have been given extra time to make their payments - finally settled their unpaid tax bills.
The offshore disclosure initiative was principally directed at about 100,000 customers of the five high street banks, although it was open to anyone with undeclared onshore or offshore tax.
HMRC is now considering whether it should offer a similar cap to customers of 170 further banks, after it obtains court orders compelling disclosure of offshore account information.
But UK banking industry representatives have questioned whether HMRC has sufficient evidence to satisfy the legal criteria required by banks and building societies to override their legal duty to keep customers' affairs confidential.
The move came in response to HMRC's consultation on its proposals for banks and building societies to complete a questionnaire to determine if they must disclose details of offshore accounts held by UK residents.
In a joint statement, the British Bankers' Association, the Building Societies Association and the Association of Foreign Banks said the industry does not wish to shield those avoiding their legal obligations, but needs to protect its long standing reputation for care and concern for the customer.
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