The amnesty deadline for UK residents to tell the Inland Revenue about their offshore trust investments closed yesterday. If you have one of these trusts you had until the 31 October to notify the Inland Revenue about it.
The amnesty follows a push and numerous agreements around the globe following recent terrorist events for dislosure of financial information around the World about people who have money offshore. You may not be aware but Disclosure of Information Regulations came into force earlier this year with the UK being the first to reach its financial year end (5 April) and commencing with dislosure to other EU nations about income, taxation and investments.
There has been immense pressure placed on offshore tax haven states such as Guernsey, Jersey and Isle of Man to comply with even the Inland Revenue offering amnesty if you disclose what you have now and previous tax that should have been paid being written off.
Our view
If you have such trusts and have not dislcosed, be aware of your position. The Inland Revenue are taking a much harsher line from now on - you may have missed your chance. If you still do wish to disclose, then we suggest you contact them straight away or indeed use the postal strikes to your advantage.