HMRC obtain secret tax files

March 17th 2010

In December 2009 it emerged that Herve Falciani, a former IT specialist at HSBC stole confidential data about clients with accounts in Switzerland and passed it to the French tax authorities. On 11 March HSBC said it had now discovered that 15,000 existing and 9,000 former clients were affected. The theft affected only clients who had accounts in Switzerland before October 2006.

In January, France agreed to return the data to Switzerland but said it would use the information to pursue tax evaders in France.

HM Revenue & Customs has said it is aware of the case and while declining to comment on whether it would pay money to get hold of the data is said to have commented that they would not rule anything out and are constantly gathering information.

HMRC paid a reported £100,000 for similar data stolen by an employee of a Liechtenstein bank two years ago.

Anyone who has funds in Switzerland which has not been fully declared to HMRC should consider making a disclosure now. For help and advice on the issues and opportunities contact Iain Macleod at 07920 1469800 or imacleod@edftax.co.uk