According to HMRC, the Offshore Co-ordination Unit (OCU) will include offshore analysts, technical tax experts and tax investigators.

The new unit will oversee and co-ordinate HMRC’s compliance work to identify and pursue those who hide income and capital in offshore accounts to avoid UK tax and duties.

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HMRC said the new unit would take charge of the recent deal with HSBC to hand over information on Geneva account holders.

The new offshore unit will also implement the operational aspects of the recently signed tax agreement between Switzerland and the UK, which is expected to raise billions of pounds for the UK.

Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said: "The launch of this specialist unit, together with the other valuable work the department is driving forward in an effort to tackle offshore evasion, underlines the fact that offshore tax cheats are fast running out of places to hide."

According to estimates given by UK tax authorities, British residents hold as much as GBP120 billion of cash in Swiss bank accounts.

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SThe creation of new unit thus has the potential toconsiderably help the British government to narrow its budget deficit by increasing tax collection revenues.

As a part of its efforts to repatriate money stashed in foreign banks, the UK signed a tax treaty with Switzerland in October of this year which will see British taxpayers with bank accounts in Switzerland paying between 19% and 34% on their assets to settle past liabilities.

The creation of the new unit is yet another major blow to Switzerland’s famed veiled banking system and will strongly dissuade British high net worth individuals (HNWIs) from stashing their money in Switzerland.