HMRC begins hunt for offshore tax evaders

A reduced rate of 10% for people declaring income paid into offshore accounts over the past 20 years had been in place since July. But from today the rate will rise to at least 30% of the tax due, could be up to 100%, and in some cases the revenue has threatened criminal proceedings. The tax office expects the amnesty to bring in about £500m in unpaid tax, interest and fines, but will now examine accounts from more than 300 banks with a base in the UK where it believes there is still a large amount of tax to pay. Officials expected only a fraction of the estimated 20,000 Britons wi...