The Revenue is writing to offshore account holders who registered for its 2007 Offshore Disclosure Facility tax ‘amnesty’ scheme.
"HMRC would like to understand more about how offshore accounts are used by people in the UK," the letter, signed by offshore campaign manager Marian Wilson, begins.
“To help our understanding we would like to ask you a few short questions about how you opened, operated and maintained your accounts.”
Recipients of the letter "do not need to take part in this research" if they do not wish to, the letter goes on.
In a statement, McGrigors, a London law firm which specialises in tax matters, urges recipients of this letter to be “extremely careful", noting that even by engaging in "informal chats" with the Revenue they may inadvertently give away information that might subsequently be used against them.
“Any information disclosed by taxpayers during the course of a telephone conversation with HMRC could come back to bite them,” said Phil Berwick director of tax investigations at McGrigors.
“If HMRC uncovers evidence of non-compliance, it’s naïve to think that it would just brush that information under the carpet.
“It will be quite easy for taxpayers to slip up and incriminate themselves, or give off-the-cuff responses to HMRC in a phone call. If taxpayers want to co-operate with HMRC on this initiative they should do so via their advisers.”
To see a copy of the letter, click "Next page", below. To participate in International Adviser’s poll on this subject, click here.
