Warning over HMRC letters triggering tax penalties
HMRC is writing to tens of thousands of people with overseas investments and bank accounts - prompting warnings that returning it signed could leave the recipient open to higher penalties in future - which the letter omits to explain. While HMRC denies a “fishing expedition,” one chartered accountant comments: “HMRC are sending out this letter indiscriminately to anyone who has a foreign source of income or gains. Signing the disclosure might prevent a taxpayer from being able to claim an unprompted disclosure of a mistake, which would lead to higher penalties.”