The Swiss declaration is not only embarrassing for the Treasury, it also knocks a sizeable hole in public finances as the Office for National Statistics controversially included the £3.2bn levy in May's public accounts. The levy contributed to a narrowing of government borrowing from £15.6bn in May 2012 to £12.7bn.Swiss declaration?
According to the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), the deal does not apply to most UK nationals who keep their cash in Swiss banks because they are not domiciled in Switzerland.
The SBA said banks would pay the minimum levy agreed with the UK of CHF500m (£347m) after individual banks found only small sums from UK citizens were caught by the deal.
* I have grabbed my coat and am headed doorwards...
2 comments:
so they do not know how much additional tax was raised from individuals who, learning of the increased risk, decided voluntarily to make disclosure to the UK tax authorities but, nevertheless, the scheme is a failure. It is like the Starbucks thing all over again - damned if you don't pay the "morally correct" tax and damned again if you do.
Graeme - I think it is slightly more worrying that "the money" was deemed as received and spent; and thus facilitated a reduction in government borrowing in May. So, what should happen now - a revision of all published data on 2013 - 2014 so far, and a revision of all projections for 2013 - 2014 which included those "receipts" which do not appear to have materialised? Is there a "new" hole in the finances or not?
I also find it very hard to believe, given the focus on this "agreement" when it was announced that HMRC doesn't have an exact figure for how much has been received via the "voluntary disclosure route"
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