UK Worldwide Disclosure Facility: What clients need to know

The Worldwide Disclosure Facility (WDF) is in effect from 5th September 2016 to 30th September 2018.  It has been set up to enable taxpayers to disclose a UK tax liability which relates wholly or partly to an offshore issue. This is the last opportunity for UK taxpayers to come forward before the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) information exchange commences.

Eligibility

The WDF is available to individuals with unpaid or omitted tax that relates to:

• Income from a source in a territory outside the UK
• Assets situated or held in a territory outside the UK
• Activities carried on wholly or principally in a territory outside the UK
• Anything having an effect as if it were income, assets or activities of a type described above, and
• Funds linked to unpaid or omitted UK tax not included above which have been transferred to a territory outside the UK or are owned in a territory outside the UK.

A three-month extension

The deadline for UK taxpayers to fulfil Worldwide Disclosure obligations remains 30th September 2018. However, HMRC) has announced that UK taxpayers with particularly complex affairs may be granted an extra 90 days to disclose.

This will give 180 days from notification of the intention to actually making the disclosure. Taxpayers wishing to utilise this three month extension must pre-apply to HMRC for permission if they wish to disclose after the standard deadline of 30 September 2018.

For more information

UK taxpayers with offshore source income or gains must review their affairs and take advice immediately to determine whether they have unpaid tax which should be disclosed via the WDF. For more information on this topic, please contact John Nelson at Dixcart.