The Revolving Door Revolves In HSBC's Favour

Lucky for HSBC, the go to bank for tax advice, that it has Dave Hartnett onboard as honesty advisor.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

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HMRC's Swiss Miss

HMRC has sent out letters to UK holders of Swiss bank accounts warning that they must settle their liabilities, and giving them the option of using the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility.

However, John Cassidy, tax investigations partner at Crowe Clark Whitehill, says that these letters are written in exactly the same way as the 6,500 letters sent to this target group of individuals last September.

Whilst this is all very well to use the same wording etc, Mr Cassidy notes that some of his clients (who had received this letter) had already signed the LDF agreement and therefore did not need to be notified by HMRC in this way.

A spokesman for HMRC is quoted by International Adviser as confirming that the letters were sent out “as part of an agreement between the UK and Switzerland, which came into force on 1 January 2013. HMRC is engaging with all UK taxpayers who have agreed to details of their investments and accounts in Switzerland being shared with the UK by the Swiss tax authorities, under this agreement.”

However, waste of effort aside, I have to say I am reassured and pleased to see that the word "taxpayers" has crept back in to the HMRC lexicon.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Pumping a Dry Well

The government has dismissed recommendations from the Public Accounts Committee over the reporting of HMRC's accounts and the tax gap.

Specifically the government has dismissed the recommendations that HMRC should "be more explicit" about the limitations of the current measure of the tax gap (£35M as per figures released in October 2013) and gather greater intelligence about the value of tax lost through avoidance.

However, both the government and PAC agreed that HMRC had overestimated the yields expected from UK holders of Swiss bank accounts, and that HMRC should pursue these more aggressively.

The government is quoted by Accountancy Age:

"The UK-Swiss agreement is raising revenue that would otherwise largely remain beyond the reach of UK authorities. The department continues to rigorously press the Swiss authorities to understand why receipts are lower than originally expected by either country. 

The department will also make full use of the enhanced exchange of information provisions under the agreement to identify ongoing evasion, and is contacting every person whose details were disclosed under the agreement to ensure that all tax, which should be paid, is paid." 

However, as I noted in July 2013, HMRC is pumping a dry well there:

"The trouble with the ongoing politicisation of tax (or rather the mechanisms involved in collecting tax) is that the politicians and media "professionals" involved in the spin are apt to "overspin" the issues and potential results etc.

Such appears to be the case with the "landmark" tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland, which Osborne heralded last year as:

"The largest tax evasion settlement in British history."

Fast forward to the present day and we see...cough... that it now looks set to raise much less revenue than expected, according to an update from the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA).

Osborne expected to raise £5BN over five years, of which £3.2BN of revenues expected this year have already been included in the government’s borrowing figures.

However, the SBA said in a report last week that it is possible that less than £900M would be directly transferred to the UK. The association said that first indications suggested there were fewer untaxed UK assets in Switzerland than had been previously assumed, largely because many clients have resident non-domiciled status."

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

A Reminder To Politicians - Don't Count Your Chickens

HMRC can only collect what is legally due.

HMRC's Edward Troup was quoted by the Telegraph:

"Our job is to collect tax [and we follow] the law as it stands." 

Oh, and re the same article, in July I wrote:

"The trouble with the ongoing politicisation of tax (or rather the mechanisms involved in collecting tax) is that the politicians and media "professionals" involved in the spin are apt to "overspin" the issues and potential results etc.

Such appears to be the case with the "landmark" tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland, which Osborne heralded last year as:

"The largest tax evasion settlement in British history."

Fast forward to the present day and we see...cough... that it now looks set to raise much less revenue than expected, according to an update from the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA).
Osborne expected to raise £5BN over five years, of which £3.2BN of revenues expected this year have already been included in the government’s borrowing figures."

It seems that the reality will be around £440M this year and £782M, in total, since an agreement was signed.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Don't Count Your Chickens

The trouble with the ongoing politicisation of tax (or rather the mechanisms involved in collecting tax) is that the politicians and media "professionals" involved in the spin are apt to "overspin" the issues and potential results etc.

Such appears to be the case with the "landmark" tax agreement between the UK and Switzerland, which Osborne heralded last year as:

"The largest tax evasion settlement in British history."

Fast forward to the present day and we see...cough... that it now looks set to raise much less revenue than expected, according to an update from the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA).

Osborne expected to raise £5BN over five years, of which £3.2BN of revenues expected this year have already been included in the government’s borrowing figures.

However, the SBA said in a report last week that it is possible that less than £900M would be directly transferred to the UK. The association said that first indications suggested there were fewer untaxed UK assets in Switzerland than had been previously assumed, largely because many clients have resident non-domiciled status.

As per Accountancylive:

"These clients are not liable to taxation in the UK and thus do not fall under the agreement. Furthermore, numerous UK clients have opted for voluntary disclosure."

However, HMRC are sticking to their guns...for the moment:

"The estimate for yield from the Swiss agreement took into account the likely balance between tax withheld by the banks and tax collected by HMRC directly from individual taxpayers following disclosure, as well as the taxpayers' tax status. 

More people have chosen to disclose their tax affairs to HMRC than expected, so the yield from this route is likely to be higher than anticipated. There is no reason to revise the overall yield estimate at this point."

This despite the fact that the Office for Budget Responsibility has previously described the anticipated yield from the Swiss tax deal as ‘highly uncertain’, because of the lack of information about the value of the assets held by Britons in Switzerland.

I dare say that by the time the results are in, everyone will have forgotten what Osborne had promised.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

Insurance to protect you against the cost of enquiry or dispute with HMRC is available from several sources including Solar Tax Investigation Insurance.

Ken Frost has negotiated a 10% discount on any polices that may suit your needs.

However, neither Ken Frost nor HMRCISSHITE either endorses or recommends their services.

What is Solar Tax Investigation Insurance?

Solar Tax Investigation Insurance is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Solar Tax Investigation Insurance



HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

HMRC Hits The Phones

HMRC is concerned that so many people have been having a go at it about having trouble getting through to HMRC on the phone.

Therefore HMRC has decided to "hit the phones" and call the taxpayers!

Director of Finance reports that 6,000 taxpayers will receive phone calls from HMRC.

However, before you all wait eagerly by the phone in expectation of a call from HMRC to assist you with your tax problems/queries, I should point out that the 6,000 calls are being made to those whom HMRC believe hold Swiss bank accounts.

The rest of us will have to continue "hanging on the telephone".

Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
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What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

EU Nixes Swiss Deal

Well then, here's an interesting story in Accountancy Age.

It seems that the EU is threatening to sue the UK over its tax agreement with Switzerland, signed in October.

At the time of signing, Dave Hartnett said:

"The world is shrinking fast for offshore tax evaders and this agreement will ensure that we know where money that flees Switzerland is heading. We won't be far behind."

European Commission lawyers are not convinced, and are of the view that the deal is in breach of EU laws that they claim are tougher on tax evasion.

George Osborne has been warned that he must renegotiate the deal or face a writ from the EU.

The deal, as it currently stands, protects the secrecy of UK residents who have accounts with Swiss banks, in return for a large percentage of the capital in their accounts and a withholding tax. Oddly enough Germany had also negotiated a similar deal.

Notwithstanding that, the EU thinks that the deal contradicts the EU Savings Directive and undermines its negotiating mandate.




Tax does have to be taxing.

UK EXPATS: Reduce tax on UK Pensions
HMRC QROPS provider. Unlock your UK pension and access a 25% lump sum today.

Quote ID code "ABC" when contacting a QROPS specialist.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Handling Stolen Data

Here's an interesting "little" story about some stolen data files, no not the "datagate" files of 25 million British citizens, but some stolen data files from HSBC Switzerland.

HSBC stated yesterday that a former IT employee had stolen information concerning 24,000 clients and former customers.

The Times reports that the French authorities have now acquired the data, and are examining data on the 3,000 French account holders on the list.

The question hanging in the air is whether HMRC will seek to acquire this ill gotten data (or at least the portion that covers British citizens who may, or may not, have been evading tax).

Switzerland has categorically stated that it will not co-operate with any attempt by foreign tax authorities to use the data. HSBC have also stated:

"We will not support any authorities seeking to use stolen data in pursuit of tax inquiries."

However, HMRC have "form" in this area as they acquired stolen data relating to Liechtenstein bank accounts three years ago.

Whilst the Swiss may not offer up any details, the French authorities who now have the data may well be less fussy.

Tax evasion is illegal.

However, should a government organ be using illegally acquired data to pursue suspected tax evaders?

Do two wrongs really make a right in this case?

In some countries, evidence acquired without due process (eg a warrant) is deemed inadmissible.

Doubtless there may be many who argue that tax evaders (remember it has to be proven first that they are evaders) don't deserve the protection of the law. Cut down one law and others will be exposed to an overzealous state seeking to prosecute those that it deems to have acted "illegally".

Would you be happy with state organs, eg the police, bursting into your homes without due process having been followed?

Will HMRC start to pay people to commit theft on its behalf?

That is where this may well lead.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Switzerland Comes A Wooing

The Times reports that Swiss authorities are wooing chief executives of UK based companies, and other wealthy individuals, offering them tax saving deals to move to Switzerland.

Swiss officials from the cantons are personally contacting the CEOs of FTSE 100 companies, to persuade them to relocate their companies and families to Switzerland.

The Times reports that one chief executive was offered a flat tax rate of 10% on his personal income if he relocated the company to Geneva and lived there, as long as he provided a forecast of earnings for the next ten years.

Switzerland, and other countries, are capitalising on the increasingly punishing tax regime for high earners in Britain.

The government and HMRC may be in public denial over this. However, they are are aware that the high earners and tax avoiders that they are targeting will simply "up sticks" if they deem it to be in their interest to do so.

At some stage the costs of playing the "avoidance crack down card" will outweigh the revenue benefits.

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"

Switzerland Bans Fishing

"Contracting States are not at liberty to engage in 'fishing expeditions' or to request information that is unlikely to be relevant to the tax affairs of a given taxpayer."

Source HMRC

Tax does have to be taxing.

Professional Cover Against the Threat of Costly TAX and VAT Investigations

What is TAXWISE?

TAXWISE is a tax-fee protection service that will pay up to £75,000 towards your accountant's fees in the event of an HM Revenue & Customs full enquiry or dispute.

To find out more, please use this link Taxwise

Tax Investigation for Dummies, by Nick Morgan, provides a good and easy to read guide for anyone caught up in an HMRC tax investigation. A must read for any Self Assessment taxpayer.

Click the link to read about: Tax Investigation for Dummies

HMRC Is Shite (www.hmrcisshite.com), also available via the domain www.hmrconline.com, is brought to you by www.kenfrost.com "The Living Brand"