Medical professionals offered Tax Health Plan

Medical professionals are being encouraged under a new Tax Health Plan to tell HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) if they have understated income.

Those who contact HMRC by 31 March 2010 to make a voluntary disclosure will be able to put their tax affairs in order simply and on the best available terms.

After that date, using information it holds about how much is paid to them, HMRC will carry out targeted investigations aimed at medical professionals who have not come forward. Substantial penalties or even criminal prosecution could follow for those who have undeclared tax liabilities.

The Health Plan is the first initiative in a new HMRC campaign focused on professionals. It is designed to make it easy for customers to put their tax affairs right and keep them that way.

Launching the campaign, Mike Wells, HMRC's Director of Risk and Intelligence, said:

"Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for people to come forward, make a full disclosure and benefit from the certainty of a reduced 10 per cent penalty that HMRC is making available to those who qualify for this opportunity".

"From April we will be using the information at our disposal to investigate medical professionals who have not declared their full income. I therefore strongly urge any in this group who think they may have outstanding tax liabilities on their income to get in touch with HMRC and get their tax affairs in order simply and on the best available terms".

"This is the first step in enabling those with undisclosed income or gains to avoid a full tax investigation together with much higher penalties. The message is clear: contact us before we contact you."

The Health Plan will operate in two stages:

From 11 January to 31 March 2010, medical professionals can register their intention to make a voluntary disclosure with HMRC.
By 30 June, those who have registered must have made their disclosure as well as arrangements to pay all tax interest and penalties due.

What do you have to do to notify your intention to make a disclosure?

Ring HMRC on 0845 600 4508, or
Use the e-form available via the link on the HMRC website: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/tax-health-plan/

A dedicated team will be on hand to help.

If HMRC receives a full and accurate disclosure of any income on which tax hasn’t been paid, along with payment, by 30 June, those who qualify can expect a reduced penalty of 10 per cent.

The benefits of the Tax Health Plan are that you can avoid the possibility of:

a penalty of up to 100 per cent of the tax due
an investigation resulting in criminal prosecution.

So there you have it folks, first it was offshore bank account holders and now Medical Professionals, where will it end??