We make tax compliance simple

Transcription

1 We make tax compliance simple

2 The future of tax compliance It is widely accepted that UK tax law in relation to offshore structures is extremely complex. With the combination of ever changing legislation and increased compliance requirements, offshore financial service providers are facing increasing challenges to keep up to date. In addition, the cost of compliance and training is at an alltime high; balancing this against the need to ensure correct administration, both past and present, has never been more important than it is in today s marketplace. As a result of the implementation of Common Reporting Standards (CRS) governments now have an explosion of personal data which allows them increased insight into the financial affairs of UK residents linked to offshore entities, as well as the ability to monitor financial intermediaries both inside and outside their own countries. Her Majesty s Revenue and Customs is known to be proactive in targeting offshore non-compliance and now has a range of new powers which are likely to significantly increase the number of tax investigations for 2018 and the future. This in turn increases the risk of potential client litigation against financial intermediaries during the administration of funds and assets. HMRC has stated its intention to aggressively attack offshore tax evasion and avoidance. HMRC s flagship offences are designed to close the net of tax evasion and avoidance which exists within offshore structures. First to note is the failure to correct a tax return offence. This comes into force on 30 September 2018 and provides for tax geared penalties of between 100% and 300% of any unpaid tax. On a company level, there is the new Corporate Criminal Offence of failing to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. This can trigger unlimited fines and considerable reputational damage to institutions whose employees and contractors breach this new law. HMRC has already signalled that additional offences are being considered for the future. In short, the offshore financial world is changing; the days of secrecy have been replaced with transparency. The impact of compliance on offshore structures has increased dramatically over the last 10 years and HMRC has stated its intention to aggressively attack offshore tax evasion and avoidance. Customer expectations have changed, and new levels of service are expected. It is down to individual financial institutions to keep up with this ever-evolving tax landscape. The use of innovative and targeted compliance tools will assist in an ever more digital world. can provide a simple and effective way of checking compliance issues for offshore structures.

3 is an online compliance platform designed for offshore structure providers to risk assess liability to UK taxes. is a solution Challenges Risk of client litigation due to past mistakes which have been highlighted by increased HMRC investigations. is able to identify any tax liabilities that need to be rectified before HMRC gets the chance to launch an investigation on any client. identifies current and historic tax risk and non-compliance for any offshore structure comprising Trusts, Foundations and Companies. Tax risks are categorised in respect of the following individual UK taxes: Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax, Inheritance Tax, Corporation Tax and Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED). Risk of investigation by HMRC under the Corporate Criminal Offence. With the ever-changing landscape of tax law, the cost of tax compliance is at an all-time high. provides part of a defence of reasonable procedures for the Corporate Criminal Offence. is very cost-effective system which can save you money in the long run. As a cloud based software, provides an easy to use portal which holds all reviews. Many features are included to help provide easy visuals for case workers and managers to review and track reviews as well as their outcomes. There is insufficient depth of understanding of UK taxes in-house. Customers expect assurances that their structures are running tax efficiently. will improve understanding of UK tax and identify any training requirement for case workers and managers. will demonstrate increased tax compliance on a company level. In house tax departments struggle to keep pace with changes in UK tax legislation and industry practice. can be relied upon as the platform will be updated following any change in the appropriate legislation and industry practice. Ongoing compliance requirements need to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated. will identify trends of where past mistakes have been made so these can be addressed at a company-wide level going forward.

4 vs Manual Reviews Aside from, there is seemingly no other software currently on the market which can assess UK tax risks of offshore structures. The only alternative is manual reviews of each individual structure. Cost is very cost effective. The cost of a single review represents a fraction of the cost of a manual review. Manual Reviews The cost of manual reviews is very high. reviews offshore structures but exactly how does it work? Simply put users complete a review of a structure by answering a series of detailed questions in relation to the facts and administration of the structure. For ease of use, all questions have been constructed to require responses in the form of either yes, no or unsure. The unsure option has been included for those occasions where certain facts may be unknown. It is important to note no detailed UK tax knowledge is required to answer the questions in a review. Upon completion of the questions, a bespoke risk assessment report is instantly generated which details the tax risks within the structure in the following ways. The risk assessment report allows you to make an informed decision to whether any further remediation needs to be carried out. Please be aware, where unsure responses have been selected, the risk report will outline each and every potential liability arising in respect of the situation, allowing you a full vision of clarity. Speed provides an immediate and automated risk report after a quick review process. This enables large numbers of reviews to be completed in a timely fashion. Time taken to complete manual reviews for each entity would mean most will not get reviewed before Requirement to Correct penalties apply from September Trust 1 rem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque volutpat placerat sapien nec sollicitudin. vamus non varius quam. Aliquam cursus faucibus lobortis. Quisque blandit massa non massa dignissim, eu ctus risus pulvinar. Nulla fringilla est vel mi fringilla bibendum. Aenean scelerisque augue vitae mauris mper fermentum. Integer ex sapien, pulvinar sit amet sollicitudin at, dignissim ac lacus. Nulla molestie mollis ius. tructure What s does my risk assessment report contain? Disruption Conflict will save you the disruption of a manual review by enabling you to risk assess your own structures, from your own offices. ensures no conflict of interest arises. Manual reviews require an external third party to review documentation. This can be very intrusive and can cause disruption to the day to day working of the business. Conflict of interest may occur when instructing existing tax advisers to check the compliance of structures they look after la nisl sem, luctus non facilisis sit amet, semper tempor eros. Pellentesque in ornare felis, quis pulvinar or. Sed suscipit nisi at diam euismod, vel bibendum libero pulvinar. In semper molestie enim eu iaculis. nec eget justo sed ante elementum volutpat nec a lectus. Donec aliquet aliquet magna a maximus. Aliquam felis a purus tempus porttitor efficitur at justo. ssessment report Risk Score ghts in further detail where the tax liabilities lie: esent sagittis sapien quis erat malesuada faucibus. Nunc ut pellentesque lacus, et sagittis lacus. Nunc nec idunt diam. Donec euismod ut mauris vel vestibulum. Morbi sit amet nisi orci. Praesent condimentum orci sequat eros facilisis interdum. Maecenas feugiat, justo vel blandit aliquam, ante ex iaculis sapien, ut umsan ligula mi aliquet urna. Morbi blandit egestas erat. Curabitur vehicula maximus porttitor. Proin iat neque ac tortor sodales, vel molestie mi ornare. Donec nec quam vel ante scelerisque faucibus. Nulla m erat, varius sit amet ipsum et, bibendum vulputate ante. Vivamus a molestie ante. Morbi quis felis ex. In it bibendum, consectetur sem vitae, porta arcu.ultrices faucibus sem. ompany 2 CGT IHT CT ATED 23 /100 We consider this to be a low risk score. Even if there are tax liabilities present within the structure, these may not be severe. Please read the written report in full for more information and contact should you have any further questions. m ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Pellentesque volutpat placerat sapien nec sollicitudin. mus non varius quam. Aliquam cursus faucibus lobortis. Quisque blandit massa non massa dignissim, eu s risus pulvinar. Nulla fringilla est vel mi fringilla bibendum. Aenean scelerisque augue vitae mauris er fermentum. Integer ex sapien, pulvinar sit amet sollicitudin at, dignissim ac lacus. Nulla molestie mollis. Risk Score A credit score style score out of 100 gives users a quick indication of the overall tax risk of the structure. Written report A written report giving a detailed analysis of why and where tax liabilities arise in the structure. Table of risk A table with Red, Amber, Green markers visually indicates where UK tax liabilities lie within in the structure. nisl sem, luctus non facilisis sit amet, semper tempor eros. Pellentesque in ornare felis, quis pulvinar Sed suscipit nisi at diam euismod, vel bibendum libero pulvinar. In semper molestie enim eu iaculis. eget justo sed ante elementum volutpat nec a lectus. Donec aliquet aliquet magna a maximus. Aliquam is a purus tempus porttitor efficitur at justo.

5 Benefits Reviews stay anonymous A review does not require you to input any personal or identifying information of your client. As such reviews are conducted with complete anonymity, providing peace of mind that client data is safe. Management functions The review tracker provides managers with insight into the use of. The review tracker works by allowing you to generate customised reports within a number of criteria. This feature will help you identify potential structural problems with UK tax compliance at a company level. Free UK based support Included with is free UK based support, which provides advice and guidance on the questions as well as the operation of the system. An online user guide is also available along with further helpful articles. Requirement to correct offence is the only cost-effective mechanism of rapidly checking the UK tax affairs of offshore structures. The use of will prevent higher financial penalties by identifying early any tax irregularities which can then be remediated with HM Revenue & Customs by October 2018 Security has been constructed with the highest regard for security in the cloud. Hosted on Amazon Web Services, achieves a number of industry security standards. In addition, has been strenuously security tested assuring you the safest online environment. Access to legislative updates will be updated following any relevant changes in UK tax law or industry practice. This provides comfort that you are using an up to date system whilst also demonstrating current UK tax awareness and compliance to clients and regulators alike. Corporate criminal offence The use of by overseas entities will form a major part of the defence against the Corporate Criminal offence, as its use demonstrates new systems and procedures have been established by the overseas entity. In addition, the monitoring requirement is achieved by the compliance monitoring function of. Compliance monitoring allows special access to a designated compliance user; generally this would be your compliance officer. The compliance user is given access to the review tracker as well as being given easy visual of reviews with worrying risk scores. This allows compliance officers to identify risks and training requirements within the company at a corporate level.

6 Next steps can assist if potential tax issues are identified in respect of your offshore structure. can directly, or through one of our partners, provide an extensive range of remediation support. This could include the provision of technical tax advice and how tax efficient restructuring can be affected. We can also arrange for legal advice in sensitive cases where reputational damage may be an issue. We can assist you, or your clients, with any remediation of tax issues with HMRC in a confidential and cost-effective manner. Should your staff require tax or compliance training we can also arrange for this to be provided. We can also provide bespoke support in relation to the corporate criminal offence. Please contact us for further information or to book a free trial With the ever growing threat of financial and reputational insecurity, offers compliance peace of mind through a simple and affordable solution. Andy Sharp Mob: +44 (0) andy@lanceplatform.com George Sharp Mob: +44 (0) george@lanceplatform.com No.1 Spinningfields Quay Street Manchester M3 3JE

7 Contact No.1 Spinningfields Quay Street Manchester M3 3JE Tel: +44 (0)