HMRC confirms second offshore tax trawl

The 'offshore disclosure facility' will target account holders with money in building societies and any of the 300 banks that have offshore operations. According to an HMRC spokesman, "the intention of the new facility will be to provide an opportunity for account holders to inform us of their own accord of any unpaid tax or duties and to settle their debts in a similar way to the original offshore disclosure facility." People will face threat of prosecution and higher fines if they do not confess, while fines will probably be capped at 20-30% of the tax due, to encourage people to come...