Swiss Bank Accounts - 6,000 Letters on the Way

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will be targeting 6,000 Swiss bank accounts for further enquiry following the completion of the preliminary review resulting from the co-operation agreement in the area of taxation between Switzerland and the UK, which was signed on 6 October 2011.

Although the agreement has yet to be scrutinised by Parliament and will not be fully ratified until 2013, HMRC have lost no time in following up the accord.

Taxpayers with anonymous accounts in Switzerland will see a ‘one-off’ deduction from their account made in 2013 and an amount will be deducted annually regarding interest and other income (at 48 per cent), dividends (at 40 per cent) and capital gains (at 27 per cent). These sums will be remitted to the UK and the anonymity of the taxpayers preserved.

However, where the existence of the account is disclosed voluntarily to HMRC, tax on the income will be dealt with in the usual way and unpaid taxes plus interest and penalties will be payable. In this case, the one-off and annual charges will not apply.