Offshore declaration deadline attracts rush of account holders

January 7, 2010

By Caroline Johnson

Days after the deadline for declaring money in offshore savings accounts and current accounts, it's been revealed that almost 10,000 people have come forward to tell all to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). They had until 5pm on Monday (4 January) and over 1,000 individuals chose to make their declaration on the day itself.

Anyone who hasn't provided details of offshore savings accounts and/or current accounts will now face investigations, 100% penalties and possibly even prosecution. HMRC expects to raise £500 million, after the first disclosure campaign in 2007 raised £450 million from 45,000 people.

Stephen Timms, financial secretary to the Treasury, commented that hiding money in offshore accounts to evade tax is "economically and morally unacceptable".

"It robs public services of funding and places an unfair burden on the honest majority of taxpayers," he stated, concluding that the government will bring forward measures this year to work towards "closing down offshore tax evasion for good".

Individuals who came forward to HMRC by this week's deadline must now make a full disclosure of how much cash they have been concealing from the authorities and pay up. They can do so on paper by 31 January or online by 12 March.