Switzerland agrees to exchange tax data

A Protocol delivering comprehensive exchange of information up to OECD and international tax standards between Switzerland and the UK, which covers UK taxes of all kinds, was signed in London today by The Financial Secretary to the Treasury, the Right Honourable Stephen Timms MP and the Swiss Ambassador to the UK, His Excellency Alexis P Lautenberg.

Stephen Timms said:

“I very much welcome the Swiss Federal Council’s agreement on international co-operation in tax matters and their adoption of the OECD standard on administrative assistance.

“The days when hiding money off-shore represented a viable means of evading UK tax are rapidly drawing to a close.”

Dave Hartnett, HMRC’s Permanent Secretary for Tax, added:

“Transparency and information exchange are the foundation on which fair and effective tax systems are built. I am delighted that there is growing global recognition of the inevitability of properly regulated information exchange as the key to proper tax visibility.”

The text of the agreement can be accessed on the HMRC website by following the link below:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/switzerland-eoi.pdf

and will in due course be laid as Schedules to a draft Order in Council for consideration by the House of Commons. It will then also be available from the Stationery Office. The Protocol will come into force as soon as each government has completed the necessary procedures to give effect to it under its domestic laws.

Warning for offshore tax dodgers in new HMRC podcast Nat 53/09

Anyone with undeclared offshore tax liabilities who fails to come forward under the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) faces an increased risk of prosecution, HMRC’s Permanent Secretary for Tax, Dave Hartnett, warns in a new podcast launched today.

Under the NDO, people making a complete and accurate disclosure of their untaxed offshore liabilities between 1 September and 12 March 2010 will have any penalty capped at 10 per cent, or 20 per cent if they failed to take up a written offer of a capped penalty under HMRC’s 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility (ODF).

In the podcast, Dave Hartnett makes it absolutely clear that penalties will be “much higher than 10 or 20 per cent” for those who don’t come forward, and stresses that “there will not be another chance” to do so.

“This time,” he warns, “we are going to have information from the majority of banks operating in the United Kingdom. So, we’re going to have a much bigger database from which to work.”

The podcast is available to listen to or download for free from the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/podcasts.

(HMRC) Bumper April package to help businesses

A bumper package of measures to increase consistency and streamline how business, agents and other customers work with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will be introduced in April.

From 1 April 2009:

* HMRC will have one set of powers and safeguards covering PAYE, VAT, Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Corporation Tax. This means there will be less confusion for customers because the same rules will be applied, no matter which tax position we are checking.

* a new two-tier system of tax tribunals comes into effect - a 'first-tier tribunal' and an 'upper tribunal'. General Commissioners, Special Commissioners and the VAT & Duties Tribunal will no longer exist.

* changes to simplify the entry and leaving rules for small businesses using the VAT flat rate scheme will take effect.

From 6 April 2009:

* employers with 50 or more employers will have to file their employee starter and leaver notifications and similar pensions notifications online.

* a new A4 version of the P45 form will replace the old style A5 form.

* changes to form P46 (Car), used for reporting the private use of cars supplied by employers, will be implemented.

Dave Hartnett, HMRC Permanent Secretary for Tax, said:

"These are important measures which will make it easier for businesses and their advisers to meet their obligations whilst making it easier to work with us and to get decisions on points of law. These initiatives will provide businesses with more consistency, certainty and faster on-line processing of key documents".