LONDON: From January 2016, HM Revenue & Customs will receive details of international bank accounts held by UK taxpayers as part of an inter-governmental drive against tax evasion.
The introduction of the so-called “common reporting standard”, an initiative led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, will lead to the automatic exchange of information across borders.
Financial institutions in more than 50 jurisdictions that have signed up, including Switzerland and offshore centres including the Cayman Islands and Jersey, will be required to pass on to HMRC information on bank accounts and trusts held by UK taxpayers.
Tessa Lorimer, special counsel at law firm Withers, said HMRC will be able to compare these details with data held on UK taxpayers and identify discrepancies that could provide grounds for criminal charges.
“The transfer of information will give the Revenue reasonable grounds to suspect tax fraud and therefore access to criminal treaties,” said Ms Lorimer. “I expect there to be a lot more criminal tax fraud investigations in cases where a UK tax liability has been evaded and where taxpayers haven’t appropriately disclosed offshore assets.”
