HMRC said it is working with the United States’ Internal Revenue Service and the Australian Tax Office on data which reveals extensive use of the structures. HMRC added that it had also identified more than 100 people who benefit from the structures and who are now under investigation.
Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne said: “The message is simple: if you evade tax, we’re coming after you. The Government has invested hundreds of millions of pounds to fund the fight against tax evasion, both at home and abroad.”
HMRC said it has around 400 gigabytes of data which is still being analysed but that early results show the use of companies and trusts in a number of territories around the world including Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Cook Islands. The Revenue added the data also exposes information that may be shared with other tax administrations as part of the global fight against tax evasion.
Osborne added: “This data is another weapon in HMRC’s arsenal. Ahead of the UK’s presidency of the G8 this year, the Prime Minister has made it a key priority to drive an international effort to increase transparency and clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion. By working with our international partners in this way, we are again demonstrating our commitment to this work.”
HMRC said it would not confirm the source of the data but informed International Adviser that it “received a ‘taster’ in 2009 and the bulk followed in late 2010”.
The Revenue added that it “has access to various sources of information that assist the department with the various Fiscal challenges that HMRC face as the largest Fiscal Agency in the United Kingdom”.
While it is not clear if there is any link between the two batches of information, HMRC and a number of other European tax agencies also received data from a former HSBC Switzerland employee called Herve Falciani in 2009.
The data leaked by Falciani led HMRC in November 2011 to contact around 6,000 people in the UK who had bank accounts with HSBC in Switzerland, warning them to disclose any “irregularities”. As reported at the time, HMRC said it had already begun criminal and serious fraud investigations into more than 500 individuals and companies holding these accounts.
Earlier this week, IA reported that Spain had ruled against Falciani’s extradition to Switzerland to face charges including unauthorised obtaining of data, breach of trade secrecy, industrial espionage and violation of banking secrecy.
The news comes amid continued focus from governments around the world on the issue of tax avoidance and follows an announcement from Osborne earlier this month that the UK had made a “significant step forward in tackling illicit finance” after all British Overseas Territories with significant financial centres had agreed to sign up to its latest strategy on tax transparency.
