British investors with money anywhere offshore may be able to use a loophole in the new agreement between Britain and Liechtenstein to cut the amount of tax they pay if they come clean, according to tax lawyers quoted by the Times.
British investors with money anywhere offshore may be able to use a loophole in the new agreement between Britain and Liechtenstein to cut the amount of tax they pay if they come clean, according to tax lawyers quoted by the Times.
If they redirect their cash into an account in Liechtenstein before owning up they can halve the money they repay to HM Revenue & Customs, the newspaper suggested.
The loophole has arisen because of a discrepancy between two tax amnesties recently introduced by HMRC, the first for savers with offshore accounts opened at bank branches in the UK, and another especially for savers with money in Liechtenstein.
Under the terms of both deals, all savers who come forward will have to repay all unpaid tax and will have the penalty payment capped at 10 per cent of the outstanding tax.
While savers under the UK scheme, called the New Disclosure Opportunity, must repay outstanding tax over the past 20 years, those with cash in the principality of Liechtenstein need only backdate their payments for ten years, saving them thousands if not millions of pounds.
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