Tax advice of the week: Come clean on tax evasion

published 5 September 2011

Tax experts say that the deal struck between the Treasury and the Swiss authorities last week leaves "few places" for the wealthy to put their money beyond the reach of the taxman, say Alex Spence and Sam Coates in The Times. Research by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows Swiss account holders will have to hand over an average of 10% of their assets if they disclose under the Liechtenstein facility (LDF), but could lose up to 34% if they leave money in Switzerland.

Stephen Cam, tax investigations partner at PwC, said the LDF was "the cheapest way to clean up the past" and is expecting a "flood" of enquiries. It gives account holders until 2015 to pay unpaid taxes on assets dating back to 1999 in addition to a one-off penalty of 10%. The Treasury has confirmed shifting funds to Liechtenstein is possible, but account holders have to "surrender their secrecy" while some privacy remains in the Swiss system.

Moving money may also prove tricky. German account holders affected by a similar deal have met resistance from the Swiss banks when trying to move funds.