Those who do not inform HMRC of offshore trusts to which they are party, could face a financial penalty of 200% of the tax due. A criminal prosecution for tax evasion, money laundering or fraud is likely to follow, especially as HMRC has a renewed appetite for such prosecutions.

Traditionally these trusts (many of which set up in the 80s and 90s) were done so in order to protect assets, but HMRC have long suspected that these trusts are essentially devices to facilitate evasion and other criminal activities.

Many people claiming non-domiciled status and holding valuable properties in offshore trusts or companies, ought to take advice and check that they still fall within the recently amended tax rules (see Budget 2013).

Jeffrey Lewis has just been instructed by an individual facing such a criminal investigation; contact him if you have a similar issue.

We have been successfully advising clients with contentious tax issues (both civil and criminal) for many years.