Freedom of information requests by Tax Policy Associates have revealed that, in 2019, UK taxpayers held over £850bn in overseas bank accounts, of which £570bn was held in tax havens.
Although the figures suggest potential evasion of UK tax, the information disclosure states that HMRC has ‘not produced or received any estimates, analysis or statistical information as to what proportion of the foreign financial accounts have been ‘properly disclosed’, nor can this be accurately inferred in the data we hold.’
In the interests of transparency, Tax Policy Associates suggests that HMRC should publicly commit to various measures, including the following:
publishing aggregated common reporting standard (CRS) statistics every year, including the number of offshore accounts, with balance details;
analysing the CRS data to estimate the proportion of accounts not otherwise declared in UK tax returns – giving an approximate indication of the scale of avoidance/evasion; and
subject to the normal taxpayer confidentiality requirements, making CRS and self-assessment data available to academics, for further analysis.
HMRC’s disclosures also reveal that the above statistics relate only to accounts reported to HMRC under the CRS. HMRC considers FATCA data to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act disclosure requirements and so accounts held in the United States are not included in the total figure for non-tax haven accounts.
Freedom of information requests by Tax Policy Associates have revealed that, in 2019, UK taxpayers held over £850bn in overseas bank accounts, of which £570bn was held in tax havens.
Although the figures suggest potential evasion of UK tax, the information disclosure states that HMRC has ‘not produced or received any estimates, analysis or statistical information as to what proportion of the foreign financial accounts have been ‘properly disclosed’, nor can this be accurately inferred in the data we hold.’
In the interests of transparency, Tax Policy Associates suggests that HMRC should publicly commit to various measures, including the following:
publishing aggregated common reporting standard (CRS) statistics every year, including the number of offshore accounts, with balance details;
analysing the CRS data to estimate the proportion of accounts not otherwise declared in UK tax returns – giving an approximate indication of the scale of avoidance/evasion; and
subject to the normal taxpayer confidentiality requirements, making CRS and self-assessment data available to academics, for further analysis.
HMRC’s disclosures also reveal that the above statistics relate only to accounts reported to HMRC under the CRS. HMRC considers FATCA data to be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act disclosure requirements and so accounts held in the United States are not included in the total figure for non-tax haven accounts.
