Readers’ forum: Offshore obfuscation

I recently received a letter from HMRC for a client which says: ‘We have written to your client as we have information that shows they may have received overseas income or gains that they may have to pay UK tax on. We have received this information through the UK’s tax information exchange agreements with other countries. This letter gives your client the opportunity to review their tax affairs and to tell us about anything that they may need to put right.’

Income from the client’s US portfolio is reported on the self-assessment return and the client says he has declared everything. I spoke to an HMRC officer who says the department does not have the resources to check the information received against the returns so these letters are sent as a reminder to include the information in the tax return. I did express my surprise at this approach ...