Tax-dodgers who hide money offshore ‘could face fines of up to three times the amount they evade’ under Philip Hammonds new proposals

TAX-DODGERS who get caught hiding money offshore could face fines of up to three times the amount they try to evade, under new proposals announced yesterday.

People who don’t come forward and pay outstanding taxes from offshore investments and accounts could also face criminal charges from October, in a move described as a “game-changer”.

It comes a week after HMRC announced proposals to punish accounting firms who help tax avoiders, as the new Chancellor Philip Hammond signals a fresh approach to tax dodgers.

Ex-Chancellor George Osborne was accused of shirking his duty in making sure tax was collected.

He came under criticism for accepting just £130million in back taxes from Google in January.

And there is widespread criticism that British tax laws are too lax, allowing large multinationals like Facebook, Google and Amazon to get around them.

In April the Public Accounts Committee called on HMRC “to increase the number of investigations and prosecutions, including wealthy tax evaders, and publicise this work to deter others from evading tax and to send out a message that those who try will not get away with it.”

Yesterday HMRC announced it “will be even better able to target evaders from October 2016, when it starts to receive an unprecedented amount of data on those with offshore accounts in the Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.” It is hoping the new transparency initiative will help them find individuals hiding money offshore, in places like Jersey, Guernsey and the Cayman Islands.

Currently offshore penalties could be up to 200 per cent of the tax evaded.

A HMRC spokesman told The Sun that under the new proposals they expect to charge the higher end of the penalty range more often.