
The UK’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is expected to extend the due date for its tax amnesty program – New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) – to January 4th.
The amnesty was initiated on September 1st and the original deadline was indicated to be November 30th, 2009. The new deadline is expected to be January 4th, 2010. Payments associated with the tax amnesty will be due by March 12th, 2010.
The HMRC estimates that there are currently 400,000 offshore bank accounts held by UK citizens, at least 20% of them are assumed to be avoiding their tax obligations. The amnesty provides the offenders with an opportunity to declare their offshore bank accounts, to fulfill their tax obligation, and face an additional penalty of only 10%. Outside of the amnesty, typical HMRC penalties could reach as high as 100% of the unpaid amount.
Explaining the move, a HMRC spokesman said “The reason we have extended the deadline is to allow more time for banks to write to their customers. This is what they have told us they need”. Experts believe that several thousand holders of offshore bank accounts are yet to be contacted by their respective banks and financial institutions.
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