14 April 2007:  Offshore income tax amnesty

This is a fairly topical issue … at the time of writing the UK Inland Revenue are offering a tax amnesty.  That is if you have an offshore bank account or foreign house and have income that you have not declared to the taxman - then does so before the deadline and get a much reduced set of questions … and a much reduced tax bill for your trouble!

If the taxman investigates you and finds that you have concealed taxable income then you are liable not just for the tax that you have not paid, but also interest and a penalty.   The penalty could be as much as 100% of the tax!   The amnesty limits the penalty to just 10% which is an obvious incentive to ‘fess up!

If you are worried by this then get in touch and let us help you to get your tax affairs up-to-date, but hurry you have to tell the taxman that you want to take advantage of the amnesty by 22 June 2007.  So don’t delay!

The core issue for the UK taxman is that if you have an offshore bank account or a foreign property that you are still liable to tax in the UK on any income that arisen – regardless of where that income arose and despite any offshore tax that you may have paid!