 Swiss account holders may be caught before tax deal comes into effect
7 September 2011: PKF Accountants & business advisers warns Swiss bank account holders to act before the tax man raises an enquiry into their finances and blocks them from benefiting from the forthcoming UK-Swiss tax deal, or from using a disclosure facility.
John Cassidy, tax investigation and dispute resolution partner at PKF, comments: “The UK-Swiss deal is not expected to take effect until 2013 at the earliest, but HMRC has made it clear that it will try to open formal tax investigations into as many individuals as possible before then. Account holders who are under a tax investigation cannot benefit from the Swiss deal.”
“Being under investigation also means that an individual cannot use the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF), which, in many cases, enables offshore account holders to bring their tax affairs fully up to date at a relatively low cost. Using the LDF will often cost less than the levy on the individual’s capital under the Swiss deal, which could be up to 34% of the account balance.”
It has recently emerged that HMRC has launched investigations into hundreds of individuals with Swiss bank accounts with HSBC in what is clearly a revenue generating exercise.
John Cassidy adds: “HMRC knows it can claim more in back taxes and penalties from individuals under investigation than it would gain from individuals who make voluntary disclosures to put right their tax irregularities.
“Any UK resident who has an account with a Swiss bank should take expert advice on coming clean now before HMRC finds them. If you wait until the UK-Swiss deal is in place, you are taking a significant risk and could end up paying much more in tax and penalties than you need to.”
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For further information, please contact: Andy Konieczko, 020 7065 0537, andrew.konieczko@uk.pkf.com or Jane Soares, 020 7065 0135, jane.soars@uk.pkf.com
Notes to Editors:
1. PKF (UK) LLP is a leading firm of accountants and business advisers with more than 1,500 partners and staff operating in 23 offices in the UK mainland firm, incorporating a wholly-owned financial planning company and associated offshore practices. The firm specialises in advising growing and entrepreneurial/owner-managed businesses, AIM and fully listed companies, and also has extensive experience in the public and not-for-profit sectors. Principal services include assurance and advisory; taxation; consultancy; corporate recovery and insolvency; corporate finance and forensic. The firm has particular expertise in advising sectors such as hotels and leisure; mining and resource; public sector; real estate and construction; professional practices; not-for-profit; and medical. The firm’s web site is www.pkf.co.uk
2. PKF (UK) LLP also offers financial services through its FSA authorised company, PKF Financial Planning Limited. PKF (Isle of Man) LLC is a limited liability company registered in the Isle of Man. PKF (Channel Islands) Limited is incorporated in Guernsey.
3. PKF (UK) LLP is a member firm of the PKF International Limited (PKFI) network of legally independent member firms. The PKFI member firms have around 2,200 partners and more than 21,000 staff in around 125 countries.
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