The person in charge of the Revenue, Dave Hartnett - officially the permanent secretary for tax - has posted a YouTube video with a dire warning to people who have undeclared tax.

This is part of a big push by the Revenue to get people interested in the current offshore disclosure window. Basically, if you have an offshore bank account and have not declared income from it, you have until 30 November to tell the tax man.

If you do, you may escape penalties or have them reduced. If you don’t you could end up with fines up to 100% of the tax owed. Or you could go to jail. The video attempts to put this point over in a clear concise way.

Admittedly the video is a bit dry, but it’s also quite hard hitting. Hartnett doesn’t mince his words – if you don’t use the amnesty, and you are later found to have undeclared income, you will be fined or go to jail.

We say it is important for HMRC to engage with people. They face a huge barrier when educating the public about tax matters, so any avenue they can take should be explored.

For more information on the tax amnesty and what to do if you think it affects you, go to our offshore tax disclosure section.

The video is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7qb8Y8RvE0 and some good comments are here on accounting web http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/topic/tax/dave-hartnett-youtube.