The Chancellor announced in the Budget that the Inland Revenue would require a greater degree of disclosure from product providers, soon after the Spring Finance Bill is published.
We covered the fact that providers operating tax-efficient schemes will have to disclose them to the Inland Revenue shortly but there now seems to be another angle emerging.
The idea is allegedly to make it easier for investors to report their policies on tax returns. With providers registering their schemes, the policyholder will be given the registration number. Then, instead of having to supply details of the scheme to the Inland Revenue, they can just include the registration number.
Our View
Well, if you believe that, you will believe anything! Obviously the Chancellor wants to know all of the tax-dodges so he can close the loopholes, but, he also seems to be encouraging onshore investment, rather than offshore.
According to the Chancellor, if people invest onshore they will only have to give the registration number of their scheme. But, if people buy from offshore providers, they will be responsible for providing the relevant information (which has not yet been disclosed) themselves.