Wealthy UK contractors, including those working as a sole trader or through a limited company, have been further discouraged from using offshore banks.
The government has introduced a raft of crack downs on offshore banking in recent months in order to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.
And now the Treasury has announced its intention to close another loophole that allows wealthy individuals to avoid paying stamp duty on expensive property transactions.
According to the Telegraph, chancellor George Osborne will use the draft legislation for the Finance Bill later today (December 6th) to announce that properties bought through offshore companies will be subject to five per cent stamp duty, rather than the 0.5 per cent rate that are currently expected to pay.
The comes shortly after HM Revenue & Customs announced the launch of a new specialist offshore unit aimed at bringing tax cheats to justice.
Comprised of highly-skilled analysts, the Offshore Co-ordination Unit attempts to identify and pursue those hiding income and capital in offshore accounts.
The government has introduced a raft of crack downs on offshore banking in recent months in order to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.
And now the Treasury has announced its intention to close another loophole that allows wealthy individuals to avoid paying stamp duty on expensive property transactions.
According to the Telegraph, chancellor George Osborne will use the draft legislation for the Finance Bill later today (December 6th) to announce that properties bought through offshore companies will be subject to five per cent stamp duty, rather than the 0.5 per cent rate that are currently expected to pay.
The comes shortly after HM Revenue & Customs announced the launch of a new specialist offshore unit aimed at bringing tax cheats to justice.
Comprised of highly-skilled analysts, the Offshore Co-ordination Unit attempts to identify and pursue those hiding income and capital in offshore accounts.
