HMRC targets 5,000 accounts for offshore investigation

HMRC has sent a letter and a form to those offshore account holders that did not disclose their financial affairs during its offshore disclosure facility between 22 June and 26 November last year. Gary Ashford, tax investigations director at Grant Thornton, says people receiving letter from HMRC are being contacted because one or more banks have records suggesting they hold, or have held, an offshore bank account. "The letter in itself is no cause for alarm,” says Ashford, “as many offshore account holders will not have used the offshore disclosure initiative because they had good reaso...