Crackdown 100 Countries Tell HMRC About Your Overseas Wealth

Crackdown 100 Countries Tell HMRC About Your Overseas Wealth.

HMRC has re-enforced its message on global tax evasion and cracking down.  It is forcing financial advisers, tax advisers and financial institutions in the UK to write to write to certain categories of client, whether they are particularly wealthy (over $1m) or whether you have an international flavour to your life and have been tax resident in the UK at any time from 2015 onwards.

Individually, these letters must include your name and address, we assume to prove that it was personally sent to you if you then ignore it and are found to have not made any required tax disclosures.

As financial advisers and tax advisers, we must write individually to clients, and whilst we are doing that, we are issuing this ‘cover all’ news story and video for all.

As part of an international agreement, 100 tax jurisdictions (countries) require their finance and tax institutions to inform HMRC that you have money, wealth or property assets in that jurisdiction.  If you have already paid taxes where due, you have nothing to worry about, if you have not and have ignored it or ‘tried to hide it’ you need to make a voluntary disclosure now.

As HMRC say in their fact sheet:  “Come to us before we come to you”.

We are required to tell you (using HMRC’s exact wording):

From 2016, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is getting an unprecedented amount of information about people’s overseas accounts, structures, trusts, and investments from more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide, thanks to agreements to increase global tax transparency. This gives HMRC unprecedented levels of information to check that, as in most cases, the right tax has been paid.

If you have already declared all of your past and present income or gains to HMRC, including from overseas, you do not need to worry.  But if you are in any doubt, HMRC recommends that you read the factsheet attached to help you decide now what to do next.

MUST READ/DOWNLOAD: HMRC FACTSHEET

In addition, HMRC also warns:

"Come to us before we come for you

Remember

• If you are confident that your tax affairs are up-to-date, and you have declared all of your UK tax liabilities, then you don’t need to do anything further.

We are already using early financial information to identify the minority who are not paying what they owe.  If you need to bring your tax affairs up-to-date, it is your responsibility to do so – act now at www.gov.uk/guidance/worldwide-disclosure-facility-make-a-disclosure".