Advisers could be liable for inherited clients' tax schemes - lawyer

HMRC is consulting on a new corporate criminal offence for firms failing to prevent tax evasion, which will implicate advisers who have clients with offshore bank accounts, said Pinsent Masons head of tax Jason Collins. Tax evasion as, opposed to avoidance, is a criminal activity and criminal sanctions are already available against those who facilitate or encourage tax evasion. In the new proposals, there will be no more "passing the buck" for advisers, he said. Currently firms and their employees have to report any suspicious activity by their clients and once they've done that, r...