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UK Offshore Amnesty Set for September Launch
The UK’s offshore bank account amnesty commenced on September 1, 2009, Bentleys Chartered Accountants has revealed.
The New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) was announced by Chancellor Alistair Darling at the 2009 budget as one of many measures designed to wring extra revenues from the tax system. Under the terms of the NDO the penalty for full disclosure of income connected to a hitherto undeclared offshore account will be 10% - substantially lower than would ordinarily be the case.
Addressing concerns that the last offshore bank account disclosure scheme, held two years ago, was poorly promoted by the government, HMRC intends to run a national advertising campaign to raise awareness of the NDO.
The 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility (ODF) netted the government about GBP400m in additional tax, but a more ambitious revenue target of GBP2bn has been set for the 2009/10 NDO.
Very few other details of the amnesty terms have been published by HMRC, and Ray Darby, partner at Bentleys, says “both account holders and HMRC will benefit if this second tax amnesty is kept “short and sweet” regarding the time limit for disclosures.
For more information contact Ray Darby on 01204 388675.
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Date added: 10 November 2009
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