Tax Health Plan (THP) in UK – Hot Topics
Since THP was announced and made available on 11 January 2010 there has been significant interest from members of the medical profession and their representatives as well as from media and other interested parties.
We have provided answered to a number of frequently asked questions about how the opportunity works
Here are the latest questions and answers emerging from correspondence with our customers and the media.
Update 18 January 2010
Since the question and response below, it has been decided to include dentists in the THP, which started on the 11 January 2010.
Dentists were always one of the professional groups we planned to include early in the campaign and we have already done much background work and this will mean that, as with GMC regulated professionals, we will be able to provide the necessary support as well as being able to pursue any follow up activity needed.
The THP provides a simple, straightforward opportunity for medical professionals, including dentists, to get their tax affairs in order. After the THP closes we will follow up by using the intelligence we have to pursue those who have outstanding liabilities and choose not to take the opportunity.
Question
“The guidance states that notification will require GMC registration numbers. Does this therefore mean that only GMC members are included within the scheme?”
Response:
HMRC campaigns provide opportunities for groups of people to get their tax affairs in order in a simple straightforward way. However, we follow that up by using the intelligence we have to pursue those who have outstanding liabilities and choose not to take the opportunity. The first campaign we launched was the offshore campaign. 10,000 people have taken advantage of the new disclosure opportunity (NDO) and have notified us that they intend to make a disclosure of unpaid liabilities by March 2010.
The Professionals Campaign is the second campaign we have recently launched and it will be looking at a number of professions over a period of time. The first group we are looking to help with their tax affairs is medical professionals.
The Tax Health Plan (THP) was launched to provide an opportunity to medical professions, which we defined as those regulated by the GMC, for example doctors, medical specialists and consultants to help them disclose any unpaid liabilities.
The immediate positive reaction amongst wider health professionals groups has resulted in us reconsidering our initial decision to open this opportunity simply to GMC regulated professionals and it is sensible at this point to consider including dentists in the THP. We are arranging to meet the General Dental Council and the British Dental Association to take this forward as soon as possible. We are looking at whether we have sufficient information to include other health professionals at this time.
We already have plans to provide similar opportunities to other professional groups, including other health professionals soon. However if any person wants to make a voluntary disclosure at this stage and is not regulated by GMC they should not hesitate to do so. Unprompted voluntary disclosures often result in a reduced penalty being charged and it is sensible for any person who thinks they have unpaid tax liabilities to come forward and make a full disclosure to HMRC as soon as possible.
