The Government's increasing but selective use of tax amnesties is putting aside fairness in the pursuit of a quick boost to tax revenues, according to a Birmingham accountant.

HM Revenue & Customs today (TUE JAN 12) launched a tax amnesty for individuals registered with the General Medical Council on terms that are very similar to the recent New Disclosure Opportunity (NDO) for offshore assets.

Sarah Moss, tax manager at accountants and business advisers PKF said: "We were told that the NDO was the last amnesty of its type. Yet just a week after the NDO registration deadline passed, we have a new amnesty that effectively says medics can still come clean with, again, just a ten per cent penalty - even if any tax relating to overseas assets will face a higher penalty. Presumably this counts as a 'different type' of amnesty as far as HMRC is concerned.

"Of course it is good to encourage individuals to disclose their tax irregularities, but this approach is inconsistent. Individuals could not use the NDO to disclose solely UK income; they had to have overseas income or gains.

"The new amnesty, called the Tax Health Plan (THP), gives medics the chance to disclose UK income from any source - not just consulting fees and expenses. HMRC should encourage everyone with irregularities to come forward and make amends by making similar terms available to all taxpayers. That said, we know that HMRC has been taking a close interest in the tax affairs of doctors and consultants for some time and those with something to declare should grab this good offer while they can."

Under the new amnesty, medical professionals can register by March 31 to disclose unpaid tax over the past 20 years. They must then make a full disclosure and pay any tax, interest and penalties due by June 30 but, as with the NDO, penalties on UK source income are limited to ten per cent - much lower than the penalty rate that may be charged in other cases.

HMRC says: "The Tax Health Plan is the first initiative in a new HMRC campaign focused on professionals," so further tax amnesties for different sectors can be expected over the coming years.

Sarah Moss said: "After the original Offshore Disclosure Facility (ODF) in 2007, there followed the NDO and the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) last year. Now in 2010 there is the THP - one assumes that another amnesty will come along in April for a new group.

"While I welcome any facility that helps people come forward, HMRC should realise that the more amnesties there are, the more confusion there is for the public and less attention people will pay to them.

"Worse still, tax evaders who cannot benefit from the current amnesty could be forgiven for thinking that they should just sit tight because there will be another one along in a minute. That is not the right thing to do in my opinion but such an attitude would not be surprising in the circumstances."