ISSUES
: Business and Trade
Chapter 2: Corporate responsibility
35
New criminal offences in clampdown
on tax evasion
“If people help a burglar, they are accomplices too. Now it will be the same
for those that help tax evaders,” explains the Chief Secretary.
T
ax
evaders
and
the
professionals who enable
tax evasion will face tough
new sanctions, including two
new criminal offences and higher
penalties, under a new regime to
crack down on offshore evaders
the Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Danny Alexander announced today
(Thursday 19 March 2015).
Building on yesterday’s Budget
announcement that the Government
is introducing a new and tough last
chance disclosure facility ahead of
the worldwide automatic exchange
of financial information coming into
effect, which the UK championed,
the Chief Secretary is today
unveiling plans to:
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introduce a new strict liability
criminal offence for offshore
evasion – so in the worst cases
it’s no longer possible to plead
ignorance in an attempt to avoid
criminal prosecution
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make it a criminal offence for
corporates to fail to prevent tax
evasion or the facilitation of tax
evasion on their watch
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increase the financial penalties
faced by evaders – including, for
the first time, linking the penalty
to value of the asset kept in an
offshore bank account
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introduce new civil penalties on
those who enable evasion so
they will face the same penalty
as the tax evader
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publicly name and shame both
evaders and those who enable
evasion.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Danny Alexander said:
“I have made a great deal of
progress in shutting down those
loopholes and clamping down on
aggressive avoidance and evasion.
I have authorised over £1 billion of
investment in HMRC to ensure they
have the tools to do their job. There
has been a quadrupling of criminal
prosecutions and a dramatic rise in
taxes collected.
“But now I am announcing that
we are going even further. We’re
making it a crime if companies fail
to put in place measures to stop
economic crime happening in their
organisations. We’re also making
sure that the penalties on those that
facilitate evasion are large enough
to punish and deter.
“Tax evasion is a crime like any
other. If people help a burglar, they
are accomplices and criminals too.
Now it will be the same for those
that help tax evaders.”
As well as action to crack down
on offshore tax evaders through a
tough new disclosure scheme, the
Budget included new penalties and
reporting requirements to tackle
persistent tax avoiders.
The Chief Secretary has also today
called on the tax and accountancy
professional regulatory bodies who
police professional standards to
maximise their role in setting and
enforcing clear standards around
enabling and promoting avoidance.
The details on the new evasion regime
and avoidance sanctions are outlined
in a report published today which sets
out the Government’s approach to tax
avoidance and tax evasion.
The Government will consult on the
detail of the new evasion regime.
Over the course of this Parliament,
as a result of actions taken to
tackle evasion, avoidance and
non-compliance, HMRC will have
secured £100 billion in additional
revenue. This includes more than
£31 billion from big businesses, and
an extra £1.2 billion from the UK’s
6,000 richest people, who each have
a net worth of £20 million or more.
19 March 2015
This news article was published
under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative
and Liberal Democrat Coalition
Government.
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The above information is
reprinted with kind permission
from the HM Treasury and HM
Revenue & Customs. Please
visit
for further
information.
© Crown copyright 2016
