HMRC urge medical professionals to come clean

Any medic who registers their intent to HMRC by 31st March will then have until 30th June to submit their disclosure and make arrangements to pay unpaid taxes.

The government department is urging those who may have carried out private consultancy work to disclose details about unpaid taxes voluntarily, but this does NOT relate to income held in offshore accounts, which should have been declared in the New Disclosure Opportunity that expired on January 4th.

After paying the tax due on income, gains and any related interest, the majority of those who come forward will only face a penalty of 10%. For those who are caught in future investigations the penalties will be much steeper; fines of up to 100 per cent will be charged and in severe cases, criminal prosecution could be sought.

A spokesperson from HMRC said that the revenue is aiming to make it as simple as possible for people to make their full disclosure and know that they will only face a 10% fine.

Medics with undisclosed income should take this first step to avoid an investigation into their tax affairs thus avoiding much greater penalties. The revenue is laying down the clear message that it is better to contact us before we get in touch with you.

The Chartered Institute of Taxation believes that HMRC is using its new information powers to obtain vast amounts of information from third parties about peoples' tax affairs.

They have already obtained data from UK banks about offshore accounts and now they have approached private hospitals and medical insurers as well as NHS Trusts.

Phil Berwick, director of tax investigations at McGrigors, added that HMRC often targets specific sector to ensure compliance work, but it is without precedent to have a tax amnesty solely aimed at the medical profession.

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