Prepare For The Next U.k Hrmc Tax Attack

[marshbags]

From The Sunday Times August 23, 2009

Prepare for the next tax attack

Building societies are the Revenue’s latest target

The Revenue is under pressure to boost its takings to plug the growing gap in the public finances

THE taxman has swooped on Britain’s leading building societies and former mutuals as part of its clampdown on offshore accounts.

Nationwide building society confirmed last week that it is responding to inquiries from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) just a week after the taxman secured an order compelling 308 institutions to turn over details of all offshore accountholders.

Tens of thousands of people have offshore accounts, many of them with former mutuals such as Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley International.

They often date back to the 1970s when it was common for British residents to salt away assets offshore to earn interest gross. Even so, the interest should still be declared on tax returns.

In a sign that the Revenue’s move could provoke a row, Nationwide said it may not be able to comply with the order to disclose UK customers with offshore accounts.

It said: “Nationwide has been in active discussion with HMRC on this matter. However, we do not believe our records enable us to identify those customers who live in the UK and have an offshore account. We have already informed HMRC of this, but inquiries are ongoing.”

Unquote

Please go to the ref url for the full article:-

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/tax...EMC-Bltn=B9IBAB

Sorry if this article is already published elsewhere.

I have put it in the general section as I am not sure if it should be in the Thai business section.

I cannot find an insert to put with it either.

marshbags

[Ricardo]

Perhaps it would be more productive, if HMRC were to redirect their attentions to MPs, who are widely thought to be scrounging and expense-padding and tax-dodging their way to wealth ? Or perhaps not ...

To keep this thread Thailand-related (and open), I wonder whether anyone has any information, about UK MPs who may have visited Thailand recently, and whether they might have offshore bank-accounts here ?

[wamberal]

Anybody who tries to avoid tax by hiding financial assets off-shore will get caught out, sooner or later. The increasing power and reach of technology will see to that. The Australian Tax Office, for example, uses very sophisticated data matching techniques to identify people who are not declaring all their income, and I would be certain that this is the case in all developed, and some developing, countries.

Plus, the use of all types of credit and debit cards that are domiciled off-shore is heavily scrutinised.

The best advice I can give to anybody who is thinking of evading tax by using so-called tax havens, is - don't do it. You will get caught out, probably sooner rather than later.

[PattayaParent]

Odd because all the building societies I deal with now comply with the EUSD requirement to provide account details of British citizens to the HMRC and have done for many years.

[cmsally]

Isn't the issue here, to dig out the UK residents who have offshore accounts (and those in EU). For expats outside this area who don't spend more than 90 days in UK it isn't an issue. Though if things carry on this way UK could become like US and chase you down anywhere on the globe. After all Gordon is desperate for cash.

[PattayaParent]

In a sign that the Revenue's move could provoke a row, Nationwide said it may not be able to comply with the order to disclose UK customers with offshore accounts.

It said: "Nationwide has been in active discussion with HMRC on this matter. However, we do not believe our records enable us to identify those customers who live in the UK and have an offshore account. We have already informed HMRC of this, but inquiries are ongoing."

According to the Nationwide's own website they tell new and existing customers that they have to report the accounts of EU resident or impose a witholding tax.

http://www.nationwideinternational.com/eustd.htm

[PatinBKk]

Legislation was brought in April 2007 so this really is churning very old news......shame on the Times...off shore accounts offer very low interest and are not covered by the government compensation scheme, so accounts with these mutulas and also larger banks such as HSBC really are a bad deal compared to other lucrative off shore funds

[marshbags]

Perhaps it would be more productive, if HMRC were to redirect their attentions to MPs, who are widely thought to be scrounging and expense-padding and tax-dodging their way to wealth ? Or perhaps not ...

To keep this thread Thailand-related (and open), I wonder whether anyone has any information, about UK MPs who may have visited Thailand recently, and whether they might have offshore bank-accounts here ?

Nothing personal Ricardo but it is Thai Visa related and MP,s as far as I am aware are not among our membership.

I feel I must set my reasons for posting this and why it should have not only been posted here, but why it should left open.

I was sent this article in an email this morning and as I am with Nationwide, I, like many other Thai Visa members have a personal interest in it,s contents.

It may not have anything to do with Thailand but it certainly has plenty to do with Thai Visa members who may have older / mature, offshore investments.

It was a heads up to me and I in turn wanted to give it a heads up to our members.

The article should also let members be aware that the U.K. HMRC maybe / are beginniing to wided their investigations relating to various tax reliefs that up until now have been considered tax free.

marshbags

P.S.

I accept that this may be old news, but to post it as a reminder and an awareness factor while maybe widening the debate and gleening updated information from it has to be a positive so please add to it.

Many have been expat for a number of years and again may not be aware of this development in 2007 so again any additional info would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Edited August 27, 2009 by marshbags

[12DrinkMore]

Legislation was brought in April 2007 so this really is churning very old news......shame on the Times...off shore accounts offer very low interest and are not covered by the government compensation scheme, so accounts with these mutulas and also larger banks such as HSBC really are a bad deal compared to other lucrative off shore funds

The new news is that the government is now actively going after these accounts. Presumably they have finished with the banks and are now widening the net. Whether the institutions are covered by any UK guarantee is not really the issue. The issue is the UK resident tax payer who is not coughing up tax on his hard earned savings so that Brown can enjoy his tax free expenses.

[PattayaParent]

Legislation was brought in April 2007 so this really is churning very old news......shame on the Times...off shore accounts offer very low interest and are not covered by the government compensation scheme, so accounts with these mutulas and also larger banks such as HSBC really are a bad deal compared to other lucrative off shore funds

Details of any other lucrative offshore funds would be gratefully received

[TopDogger]

For expats outside this area who don't spend more than 90 days in UK it isn't an issue.

Apparently this isn't the case, I read this somewhere that if you still hold property, have car's, etc, etc in the UK you may still be classed as taxable?

[12DrinkMore]

Apparently this isn't the case, I read this somewhere that if you still hold property, have car's, etc, etc in the UK you may still be classed as taxable?

Income derived from property owned in the UK is taxable.

[cmsally]

For expats outside this area who don't spend more than 90 days in UK it isn't an issue.

Apparently this isn't the case, I read this somewhere that if you still hold property, have car's, etc, etc in the UK you may still be classed as taxable?

You would be taxed on any income from these as they are based in UK.

They are not the same as offshore assets.

[billd766]

Isn't the issue here, to dig out the UK residents who have offshore accounts (and those in EU). For expats outside this area who don't spend more than 90 days in UK it isn't an issue. Though if things carry on this way UK could become like US and chase you down anywhere on the globe. After all Gordon is desperate for cash.

I have a military pension, a company pension and now a state pension and I have lived out of the UK full time for the last 10 years and working offshore for a UK company for 8 years before that.

My bank is offshore in Jersey and according to the UK government as all of my pensions were earn through the UK I have to pay income tax even though I have no representation, benefits should I return to the UK for a short period nor pension increases on my state pension.

My Jersey bank had already been on to me back in 2007 to say that at that time the ruling did not affect me.

From what I have read recently on the BBC news website is that the current government will legally be able to track down UK citizens whenever you use your passport or credit/debit card worldwide.

Should the current government lose the next election you can bet your last GBP that the security laws will not be rescinded.

As an example from many years ago when Margaret Thatcher was Education Minister in a Conservative government she abolished free school milk to the howls from the Labour opposition of Maggie Thatcher, milk snatcher.

When the Labour party won the election, did they re-instate free milk for school children?

If you believe that I have a contact with a man who is looking to get his money out of Thailand and if you send me all your bank details we can come to an arrangement for a percentage.

Come on, you know you can trust me.

Edited August 29, 2009 by billd766

[jbaldwin]

Some background to this

Under UK law, the UK tax authorities have always had a right to request details from a bank in the UK of bank accounts held by that bank overseas where there was a "reasonable suspicion" of tax evasion.

What happen a few years ago is that a UK court agreed with the HRMC's view that having an address the UK and a bank account in the Channel Islands was in itself reasonable suspicion of tax evasion and therefore they could ask for details of all bank accounts held in the Channel Islands where the depositor had given a UK address.

The recent change is the HRMC can now not only ask UK banks about account held by the UK bank itself but also accounts of held by foreign incorpated banks under the same ownership.