Tax secrets of ultra-wealthy exposed by global probe

MORE than 100 of Britain's richest people have been caught hiding billions of pounds from the taxman in offshore havens, prompting the UK to step up its efforts to clamp down on tax evasion.

Following a joint investigation by the UK, US and Australian authorities, HMRC has obtained a "gold mine" of 400 gigabytes of data showing how wealthy Brits use Singapore, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands and the Cook Islands to hide their assets.

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"International spy agencies" helped obtain the data which names high-profile multi-millionaires, according to the Daily Mail. A source told the paper: "You're talking about super-rich people." HMRC has refused to comment on where the information has come from but the Mail says many individuals have already been written to by the tax authority.

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According to The Guardian, HMRC is investigating a further 200 accountants, lawyers, financial advisers and professionals who help individuals store cash in tax havens. They report the information leaked to tax authorities is the same reported on by the paper in its collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Gerard Ryle, director of the Consortium, which has reported extensively on tax evasion, told The Guardian: "To have three major tax agencies collaborating – with the possibility of many more doing the same – is potentially a major blow to the secrecy of offshore jurisdictions. "We know from the data we obtained there are names of people from more than 170 countries. Some are prominent citizens – politicians, celebrities, businessmen, the elite of some societies."

The BBC notes that Chancellor George Osborne is now warning evaders and any accountants who help them: "The message is simple: if you evade tax, we're coming after you. This data is another weapon in HMRC's arsenal."

Tax evasion, unlike tax avoidance, is illegal.