HMRC in a round table discussion stated that doctors and dentists pose a serious tax risk, which is a rather curious way of putting it. HMRC targets certain sectors where they believe substantial income has not been declared, which is driving the HMRC Tax Health plan. Dave Hartnett the Permanent Secretary for Tax and Commissioner of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said: ‘A common feature of all our campaigns is that they address a sector or a group where there is a serious tax risk.’

This is an important opportunity for dentists and doctors to get their tax affairs in order before the 31 March deadline. HMRC have done extensive research and hold substantial information on the tax affairs of medical professionals especially now as HMRC have the power to request tax related information from third parties. HMRC have contacted the NHS and Insurance companies to obtain substantial information on payments made to doctors and dentists.  HMRC will use this information for tax enquiries and tax enforcement activities.

Dave Hartnett also said, “We’ve assessed doctors and dentists and we’ve found there is a material level of non-compliance in various ways.” Consequently HMRC believe that the problem of non-tax compliance amongst doctors and dentists is extremely high.