Barclays' says will hand over details of offshore accounts to HMRC

Barclays' says will hand over details of offshore accounts to HMRC

	Published : Thu, 04 May 2006 12:45 By : Phil Bateman Print this Story

LONDON - Barclays Bank announced yesterday that it will hand over the details of offshore accounts in its bank after a landmark ruling in favor of HM Revenue & Customs. The bank said it would not appeal against the special commissioner's ruling, which granted the power to force the banks to disclose overseas accounts held by British nationals. The decision is thought to affect all banks.

"We genuinely believe that the majority of our customers are using these accounts for legitimate reasons. However, these accounts are opened on a purely execution-only basis. We do not give tax advice on them," Barclays said yesterday. "This is an industry-wide issue: it is not specific to Barclays." The Revenue described the ruling as historical. "The Special Commissioner's ruling is a landmark decision. The action is about fairness and about creating a level playing field for all taxpayers," HMRC said in a statement. "HMRC will continue to ensure that all monies located offshore are lawfully taxed."

While it is legal to hold offshore accounts ever since 1979, it is illegal to hide the interest accrued on this money. John Avery Jones, special commissioner said that the Revenue was in the right here because “in my view, the information that it has already obtained raises serious questions that merit investigation and cannot be investigated by any other means”. The British Bankers Association said that banks do not willingly condone tax evasion.

"When asked to provide information by the Revenue, customer confidentiality is the first thing that comes to mind and so they had to go through the process of the Special Commissioners' hearing," said Paul Tipping, director of the BBA. "But banks are not knowingly in the business of supporting tax evasion. The other banks will follow in due course. The Revenue is already talking to them."

The Revenue has estimated that there is £1.5 billion in unpaid tax and hence had applied to open accounts up. In December last year a ruling had ordered financial institutions to reveal their customers' credit card details in order to help the Revenue track down hidden offshore accounts.