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The move signals a broadening of the campaign against the use of tax havens and a reinvigoration of efforts at HMRC to clamp down. It was the obvious way to go.
Advisers are the soft underbelly of the tax haven industry. Many people would not know how to secrete their wealth offshore if it wasn’t for their advisers. Tackle the advisers, make them feel uncomfortable, and you might go someway to removing the conduit by which large sums find their way into a haven.
It is also clear that HMRC will pursue criminal prosecutions against advisers who they see as repeat offenders. The taxman even has software in place to help it identify those guilty of habitually transgressing the rules.
The aggression now involved in stamping out the use of havens is unprecedented and after the amnesties we can expect to see criminal prosecutions of individuals too. The taxman has indicated that it knows which advisers are at fault and who it might use to make an example of.
But it is vital that not all accountants are tainted by the few bad apples.
And while there are clearly those that deserve the attention of HMRC, care
should be taken to ensure its comments are measured and that it doesn’t come to
see all advisers as fair game.
Advisers play an important role in compliance and aiding the tax-paying public
and an HMRC generally in conflict with the profession would not be good for
anyone involved.
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