Govt to investigation offshore tax evasion

The government will soon launch a major investigation into offshore accounts used for tax evasion purposes.

A report in the Financial Times has revealed that an HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) led strategy will be launched in the early part of next year.

The department will closely examine 25 building societies and foreign banks with British-based operations.

A memo which HMRC sent to advisers was published in the Financial Times: "The intention of the new exercise will be to provide an opportunity for account holders to inform us of their own accord if they have unpaid tax or duties, and to settle their debts in a similar way to the original offshore disclosure facility."

Last year, HMRC forced five high street lenders to disclose details of its offshore account holders, which yielded £400 million in unpaid tax.

Earlier this week, the Prime Minister suggested to the press that tax cuts could feature in the Chancellor's Pre-Budget statement next week.