HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) have recently announced The Plumbers Tax Safe Plan (PTSP) which is designed for people working within the plumbing industry who have not told HMRC about all their income in the past and who now want to get back on track. It is intended to cover people who work (or worked) in the plumbing, heating or gas installation trades and this includes anyone who installs and repairs pipes and fixtures for water, drainage or gas systems in a building.

HMRC has obtained information from Gas Safe and Corgi registers and compared it to various directories and databases to build up their own database to help it identify people who, it believes, are under-declaring their income.

If you have under-declared your income in the past or have not even registered with HMRC then it is likely that you will not have paid the right amount of tax and it is important that you rectify this now.

If you take advantage of the PTSP you can tell HMRC about any income that you haven't previously told them about and you will pay a lower penalty. Depending upon your circumstances you may also be able to spread your payments if you find that you can't afford to pay what you owe.

To take advantage of the PTSP you must:

1. Notify HMRC by 31 May 2011 of your intention to take part in the PTSP. This is a simple process and can be done online, by phone or by post. At this stage, HMRC only need to know that you will make a disclosure. If you fail to notify you will not be able to make a disclosure under this PTSP.
2. Once you have done this you will receive your disclosure reference number and then you must make your disclosure and pay HMRC what you owe by 31 August 2011 or at any time before then.

You can make your disclosure in one of two ways:

1. online by completing the Plumbers Tax Safe Plan disclosure form
2. by completing and posting a disclosure form

For more detailed information see the Plumbers Tax Safe Plan Guidance Pack.

These terms will not be available to people who choose not to sign up for PTSP if later HMRC find that they are behind with their tax affairs.

HMRC will look at all disclosures to see whether they think they are complete and accurate. HMRC expect that they will accept most disclosures. If they accept your disclosure, they will send you a letter confirming this. If they cannot accept your disclosure for any reason, they will contact you (or your adviser, if you have one), to let you know.

If you are not a plumber, you may still find that the forms cover everything you need to tell HMRC. If that is the case, you can still use PTSP forms. You should notify and disclose following the instructions in this guidance. Please ensure that you show your correct business or trade on the forms, making clear that you are not a plumber. If you don't provide this information your disclosure could be sent back for completion.

If you are not a plumber, and you do not want to use the PTSP forms, you should send details of your disclosure to the following address:

HMRC
Local Compliance
Parkway House
49 Baddow Road
Chelmsford
Essex
CM2 0XA

Customers who voluntarily come forward and put right their tax position can expect very similar terms to those on offer through PTSP. If you do not come forward and HMRC later find that you owe additional tax, you may face higher penalties or even criminal investigation.

If you believe that you may be affected by this, then it is important that you act now. Please contact us if you need any further information, assistance or advice.