“They changed them so that they could not be accused of having developed too cosy a relationship with firms like ours,” explained one tax adviser, who specialises in helping high-net-worth UK tax-resident individuals to structure their tax affairs, adding that such staff shuffles are a routine feature at HMRC.
“However, in this instance, at a time when more people than ever are considering the LDF – as opposed to opting to declare under the new UK/Swiss agreement, for example, for those whose undeclared assets are in Swiss accounts – we are now having to ‘meet and greet’ our new ‘single point of contacts’ (SPOCs).
“We think HMRC should have waited until after the rush [by taxpayers with Swiss accounts to report] was over.”
The new Swiss/UK tax cooperation agreement comes into effect on the first of January 2013. Under the deal, individuals will be expected to either make a one-off payment on 31 May 2013 to clear past unpaid tax liabilities, or to pay a withholding tax on future income, beginning on 1 Jan.
Rebecca Busfield of Watt Busfield Tax Investigations said the new SPOCs “came as a bit of a surprise”, but added that her own experience was that the transition seemed to be going “well”, since her firm’s departing inspector had maintained responsibility for all those cases that already been registered.
At Edwin Coe, the London law firm tax dispute resolution partner Frank Strachan said the phones are already “extremely busy" with people "seeking to understand how to regularise their Swiss portfolios before the end of the year deadline”
“The timing of the change of SPOCs was strange, given the sheer volume of enquiries we are now receiving, but all SPOCs operate within the parameters of the FAQs, so I am sure ‘all’s well that ends well’,” Strachan added.
In announcing the SPOC changes, HMRC said it was allocating “a new SPOC to every adviser currently submitting LDF disclosures”, adding that their new SPOC “will be located in a different Specialist Investigations office”.
It said the decision to do this had been made “to maintain effective governance within HMRC; to maintain the high standards of propriety that are a feature of the LDF, to ensure continued consistency, [and] to spread best practice across HMRC”.
It concluded its message by noting that “the SPOC arrangements will be refreshed again in two years”.
Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility
The Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility – which enables those making a “declaration” to transfer what is usually referred to as a “meaningful” amount of their undeclared offshore assets from any other jurisdiction to a recognised Liechtenstein institution in order to come clean on the full amount – was launched in 2010 and runs until 5 April 2016.
As of June, the LDF had netted some £363m in extra revenue for HMRC, which said at the time that it may now bring in as much as three times the £1bn it was projected to, "from a much larger number of people", based on the rate at which taxpayers have been taking up the scheme.
The frustration for tax advisers with clients considering making a disclosure under the LDF or the new Swiss-UK agreement now is that the momentum that this data suggests could be slowed.
One tax adviser, who requested anonymity, said it can take as long as 18 months to develop a rapport with one’s HMRC SPOC. This is why, the adviser added, “with six months of the biggest LDF rush to come”, the re-jig is viewed with exasperation by some tax investigation specialists.
“It is shocking timing, particularly given how nervous the clients are, and the fact that all they want is certainty, which they look to their advisers to provide. This is suddenly difficult [for tax advisers] to give them, as, because they are unfamiliar with their new SPOC, and they don’t know how he [or she] will react to certain technical arguments, as reactions can vary quite a bit among the HMRC team.”
HMRC: ‘increasing specialists on hand’
A spokesman for HMRC told International Adviser: "HMRC provide a specialist single point of contact for agents with clients wishing to come forward through the LDF. Ahead of a possible increase in registrations due to the launch of the Swiss Withholding Tax, HMRC are increasing the specialists on hand.
While this will inevitably mean some changes to existing arrangements, all staff will be equally qualified to answer LDF questions."
