In August, the UK tax office announced plans to increase the penalties on anyone who has not paid outstanding taxes from offshore investments ahead of the start of a new data sharing agreement with the crown dependencies and territories in October.
Under the agreement, the tax office will begin receiving unprecedented amounts of data on those with offshore accounts in the crown dependencies and overseas territories.
HMRC has also announced it will open its Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF) from the 5 September 2016, which allows those with outstanding tax to pay to put their affairs in order though offers no special terms.
Panama Papers
The latest leak of offshore data comes five months after the Panama Papers scandal, where more than 11 million documents were released from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, exposing how the rich and powerful around the world use offshore shell companies to avoid paying tax.
During the biggest financial data leak in history, former prime minister David Cameron faced a media backlash as it was revealed that he made £30,000 from an offshore fund based in the Bahamas set up by his late father Ian Cameron.
At the time, the-then British leader defended the fund as “entirely standard practice” and “not tax avoidance.”
