It has been suggested that offshore bank accounts of senior doctors may be the next targets of investigation by tax authorities, and that members of other professions and trades may also face specifically targeted scrutiny in the future.
This may prove to be part of a strategy of probing the medical profession, which includes a number of status enquiries and investigations into NHS Trusts.
HM Revenue & Customs has recently targeted hospital consultants over motor and travel expenses between home and hospitals, and it is said that HMRC have identified at least a further 800 consultants to be investigated in 2010, with the department proposing to move the emphasis away from travel expenses.
It is understood that HMRC has also issued formal notices to a number of institutions that pay commission to hospital consultants, to enable them to check the commissions paid against tax return entries.
