This can be for a variety of reasons – and may not always be correct – but does need to be considered. The letters are the result of tax-related data sharing between countries which is available due to various tax information exchange agreements - HMRC essentially receive income information directly from the source.
On receipt of this letter, the recipient typically has around 30 days to reply whether they intend to disclose an additional tax liability. HMRC will then start the process of disclosure and issue a further letter, from which you will have 90 days to make a full disclosure via HMRC’s online worldwide disclosure facility. Given the tight deadlines involved, this can become overwhelming, so we are here to support you and liaise with HMRC on your behalf.
Depending on the source-country of the income or gains, whether this disclosure was voluntary or prompted, and your “behaviour” which led to this error, penalties will be applicable. These could be up to 200% of the tax payable – plus interest.
UK tax resident individuals should typically consider UK tax on their worldwide income and gains (regardless of whether that income is already being automatically taxed in the country it originated – this is not always the correct tax position).
The legislation surrounding these worldwide income disclosures to HMRC have changed several times over the last few years, we regularly assist our clients in navigating the historic legislation, calculating the interest and penalties applicable, and disclosing any underpaid tax to HMRC. Should you need assistance, please do get in touch.
Our healthcare team specialises in NHS pensions so they are also able to calculate the implications of any additional UK taxable income on your NHS pension annual allowance charges and how the McCloud judgement will alter these calculations once it has been written into legislation. Our wider tax team can assist with queries relating to the worldwide disclosure facility.