British taxpayers with undeclared income or gains on bank accounts in Switzerland should watch out. The tax authorities here are doing a deal with their Swiss counterparts to exchange information about account holders. That follows a ground-breaking deal struck between the Swiss and the US authorities following threats of legal action to uncover American tax evaders sheltering under the Swiss flag.
Some advisers will urge their clients – an estimated £100bn-£125bn is held in Swiss accounts – to move it elsewhere, to the likes of Malta, Panama and Singapore. However, there may be a better option available.
A tax amnesty has been agreed called the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF). Individuals may voluntarily disclose unpaid tax going back ten years and pay a 10% penalty on it rather than risk being named and shamed later. And what many people may not realise, says Lucy Warwick-Ching in the FT, is that the LDF is potentially open to “all UK residents with offshore accounts, not just those with one in Liechenstein”.