NEWS & VIEWS
The problem
The Chartered Institute of Taxation has received notice from HMRC that they will soon be mailing taxpayers with a renewed focus on wealthy UK offshore fund holders.
The letters, due to be sent this month, ask recipients to check that they have correctly declared money received from offshore collective investment funds. HMRC have provided a briefing giving information about the letter.
An article by Citywire gives more details, including statistics from law firm Pinset Masons on the increase of HMRC’s yield from investigations into ‘wealthy individuals’ that rose by 58% last year. The article also suggests that the sharp increase has been attributed to investigations following the Panama Papers leak, which alone yielded £190 million, and new global data sharing agreements allowing the tax authority to “identify cases more quickly.”
The solution
Sourcing accurate offshore reporting funds (ORF) data for investors to report their tax liability to HMRC on time involves a large amount of time-consuming and complicated work. Inexperienced individuals may obtain and provide incorrect data to investors which results in a tax penalty. Therefore, an increasing number of wealth management and accounting firms prefer to outsource this to a dedicated third party vendor to ensure the accuracy of the data and also allow themselves to focus on their core business.
FSL are experts in providing ORF data and are able to offer a bespoke service tailored to the clients’ required formats.
We have long-term relationships with over 600 fund managers (including niche hedge funds) and have built a comprehensive proprietary database for historic fund data. The ORF data service is not restricted to our CGiX clients, it is available to all. We have gained a diverse client base including Wealth Management Firms, Private Banks, Accounting Firms and Specialist Outsourcers.
If you would like to learn more, contact us via email at ORF@financialsoftware.co.uk or our online contact form.