Now taxman turns his attention to solicitors and accountants

SOLICITORS, accountants and self-employed workers are set to be targeted in a fresh government tax crackdown, experts warned yesterday.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) last month launched an amnesty aimed at persuading doctors, dentists and other medical professionals to declare any understated or undisclosed tax liabilities.

But the tax office is expected to turn its attention to other professions later this year as the government attempts to bolster tax revenues.

Hazel Bowman, a Glasgow-based tax partner at international accountancy firm Mazars, said there was growing evidence that new campaigns were on the way.

"Mazars has been submitting Freedom of Information requests to HMRC for a substantial period of time, and we have established that further campaigns are being planned by HMRC to target professionals such as accountants, lawyers and barristers, as well as their traditional areas of focus such as property developers, cash trades and the building industry," said Bowman.

Amnesties have become a bigger feature of HMRC's approach to tax recovery since the self-assessment system for tax returns became more widely used, according to Barry Laurie, a tax partner at French Duncan Chartered Accountants in Edinburgh.

And as the government looks for ways of funding the deficit in the economy it is increasingly clear that HMRC will devote more of its energy to tax amnesties in the coming years, Bowman claimed.

"Firstly, people holding offshore accounts were asked to come forward, then we had the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (which continues until 2015), and now health professionals have until 31 March, 2010 to submit their own disclosures. It is fair to say that we can expect this trend to continue."

Under the Tax Health Plan, medical professionals have until the end of March to tell HM Revenue & Customs if they intend to take advantage of the amnesty, and until 30 June to calculate and pay the liabilities due.