UK’s tax authority HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has confirmed that it is working with the US and Australian tax administrations on data which reveals extensive use of complex offshore structures to conceal assets by wealthy individuals and companies.
In a statement, HMRC said that the 400 gigabytes of data is still being analysed but early results show the use of companies and trusts in a number of territories around the world including Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, and the Cook Islands.
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The data also exposes information that may be shared with other tax administrations as part of the global fight against tax evasion, the statement added.
So far HMRC has identified over 100 people who benefit from these structures and a number of those individuals had already been identified and are under investigation for offshore tax evasion.
They have also identified more than 200 UK accountants, lawyers and other professional advisors who advise on setting up these structures who will also be scrutinized.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said: "The message is simple: if you evade tax, we’re coming after you. The Government has invested hundreds of millions of pounds to fund the fight against tax evasion, both at home and abroad."
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By GlobalData"This data is another weapon in HMRC’s arsenal. Ahead of the UK’s presidency of the G8 this year, the Prime Minister has made it a key priority to drive an international effort to increase transparency and clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion. By working with our international partners in this way, we are again demonstrating our commitment to this work," he added.
