Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has been given permission to probe the offshore accounts of the banks, following a landmark ruling last year which gave permission for HMRC to access offshore accounts held by Barclays.
The four ‘anonymised’ decisions issued on Friday do not specifically name the banks involved, although they are widely believed to be HSBC, HBos, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland, all of which have branches in Jersey.
The Special Commissioners stress that no allegation is being made against the banks themselves.
David Myatt, president of the Jersey Bankers Association, said there was nothing particularly new in the decision.
‘The target of Jersey business is not the UK – there is some UK business, but by no means all,’ he said.
‘Banks in Jersey conform to international standards, so this should not generate any big effect.
According to the documents the Revenue expect to claw back a total £275 million from these latest probes, compared to the £1.
billion expected from Barclays alone.
The tax inspectors will be able to demand the names and addresses of the customers with a UK address and an account in ‘three specified overseas jurisdictions’, together with date of birth, sort code, account number, annual interest credited since September 2001 and related credit card details.
The probe does not include accounts with less than £2,000 or where account holders have already exchanged information in accordance with the EU savings tax directive or who are not subject to the directive.
