NDO Deadline extended

The deadline for registering under the New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) has been extended. Originally taxpayers had until 30 November to register under the scheme, and would then be required to make their declaration and pay thir tax by the end of January (or by mid March for disclosures made electronically).

HMRC announced at the end of last week that the deadline for registration would be extended to 4 January 2010. The announcement indicates that HMRC is currently receiving information from 308 banks under third party information notices issued in August 2009. The information notices were approved by the First Tier Tribunal under powers introduced by Schedule 36 Finance Act 2009, which came into force on 1 April 2009.

Announcing the extension, Dave Hartnett, HMRC’s permanent secretary for tax said “We know that some bank customers will not be contacted by their banks in good time for the original deadline of 30 November so in the interests of fairness we have decided to extend our deadline by a month to 4 January.

“I strongly urge anyone who has been hiding taxable assets offshore to go on line and register. The NDO is voluntary but from the start of the New Year we will begin to investigate those who were eligible to use the NDO but instead buried their heads in the sand. Don’t let that happen to you.

“This is a great way to start the New Year – with the knowledge that your tax affairs are in order and the certainty that the penalty will be capped at 10 percent.”

Advisers have been concerned that the scheme has received insufficient publicity and that many taxpayers do not know that they should come forward. This is clearly an opportunity for the banks affected to ensure that their customers know that their affairs have been brought to HMRC’s attention.