In her FT article of November 27 2009, Vanessa Houlder explains that more sanctions are expected to be unveiled next month, as the UK Revenue & Customs pushed forward the deadline for registering for its “new disclosure opportunity”, which offers tax evaders reduced penalties and a lower risk of prosecution, from November 30 to January 4.
The extension, which had been expected by advisers, is a bid to increase take-up of the initiative.
Many of the 308 banks served legal notices in August requiring them to divulge account details have not yet handed over the information, in some cases because they are still appealing against the notices. The extensions will mean more of this information will be handed over to the Revenue, allowing them to alert individuals directly. It will also give banks more time to alert their customers to disclosure initiatives which are also under way in France and Italy.
Tax advisers are expecting a stiffening of the penalty regime in next month’s pre-Budget report, amid speculation that fines could be increased to more than 100 per cent of the tax due.
Dave Hartnett, permanent secretary for tax at Revenue & Customs, said: “We know that some bank customers will not be contacted by their banks in good time for the original deadline of November 30, so in the interests of fairness we have decided to extend our deadline by a month to January 4.”
Gary Ashford of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, said: “This is a sensible and realistic move which recognises the lack of time under the original deadlines.”
Paul Roberts of Grant Thornton, a professional services firm, said the extension was unsurprising given the slow initial take-up of the initiative. But he warned that even though the registration period had been extended, the deadlines for submitting full details of the disclosures were unchanged.
Taxpayers will have to collect up to 20 years of data about their offshore accounts to meet the deadline of the end of January for paper submissions and 12 March for online disclosures.
Tax evaders who come forward under the initiative face a fixed penalty of 10 per cent of the tax owed unless they were customers of the five high street banks targeted in a 2007 amnesty, who face a 20 per cent penalty.
Archive for November, 2009
UK new disclosure opportunity
Friday, November 27th, 2009The “Beckham Law” status. So many rumors, very little precision.
Thursday, November 26th, 2009We have been receiving numerous consultations concerned with non-sense rumors on the abolition of the Beckham Law. For those in the know .- Regimen especial para Trabajadores Desplazados, as per Title X on Special Tax Regimen, Section 5th, article 93 of the Spanish Income Tax Law (IRPF).
First things first, the Special Regime for expatriates moving to Spain as regulated in the Spanish Income Tax Act (IRPF) section 93 or Beckahm Law, is not been abolished. There is an amendment being proposed in the 2010 Budget, which includes a limitation for new applicants earning more than 600,000 Euros pa and moving to Spain after 1/1/2010.
The new applicants earning more than 600,000 Euros a year will be taxed according to the general rules up to 43%. This is all. If you are not in this category, nothing changes in the application of this special regimen. If you are making 600k plus pa and are already in Spain, congratulations. If you are planning to move to Spain, do it before 1/1/2010.
Therefore, and let me repeat it, nothing in the legislation as it stands is affecting existing taxpayers under this regime or those qualified applicants moving to Spain by 31st December 2009. So, if you or your client is thinking in becoming Spanish Resident under this rule, hurry up!
Since my times in Deloitte UK, when we were auditing Manchester United and Beckham was still considering the move to Real Madrid, I have been very involved with this legislation and publishing on this particular matter. I follow it very closely and will continue doing so until final approval. Keep watching this space.
The amendment is in line with the efforts of all the Tax authorities worldwide to increase their revenue!
Spain joins the Convention on tax co-operation
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009As reported in the OECD page, Spain has joined 16 other countries that have signed the OECD / Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, marking a new step forward in international efforts to combat tax fraud and evasion. (more…)
Beckham Law future?
Wednesday, November 4th, 2009The Spanish government is trying to limit the benefits offered to those expatriates working in Spain and paying a 24% tax rate.
Currently the proposal is targeting individuals making over 600,000 Euros per year.
The proposal has not yet been presented to the Parliament.
When we published our first article on the Beckham Law in the Tax Journal, back in 2004, our English colleagues were amazed. Spain was developing legislation to attract international footballers, taxing them effectively at 24% and giving them a worldwide tax exemption on international income. Being the international exemption similar to the non domicile regimen in England in the good old days.