Recently, a new regime in an attempt to crack down on offshore tax evasion has kicked in. It is predicted that the new regime will help reduce crime involving tax avoidance massively. Proposed changes include:
- A new criminal offence for offshore evasion.
- A new criminal offence for corporates who fail to prevent tax evasion.
- Increasing the financial penalties for tax evaders – including first offences.
- The same penalties as the evader for people who promote tax evasion.
- Publicly naming both evaders and those who enable evasion.
Financial Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, commented:
“Time’s up for people who don’t pay their fair share of tax by hiding their money offshore. People who evade tax, facilitate or turn a blind eye to tax evasion will now face powerful criminal and civil sanctions under our tough new regime.”
Currently, over 90 countries have signed up to exchange information about taxpayers. This, along with new sanctions, will mean that there is now nowhere for offshore tax evaders to hide.
In recent years there has been dramatic progress in tackling offshore tax evasion. HMRC has gained over £2 billion from previously undisclosed offshore income through agreements with Switzerland and several other countries. Released in the March 2015 Budget, offshore disclosure agreements will end on the 31st December 2015 and be replaced by tougher sanctions ahead of the automatic exchange of tax information from 2017.
At Gorilla Accounting, we will ensure you never miss a tax payment through our all-inclusive accountancy package which includes the use of our cloud bookkeeping software that’s been designed purely for on-the-go contractors and freelancers. If you’re still unsure on why you should join Gorilla, why don’t you try our software for FREE, give us a call on 0330 024 0406 and one of our friendly specialist contractor accountants will be more than happy to set you up on a demo.
