The Labour Party yesterday called on the government to declare how many individuals and companies were eligible for the amnesty on penalties for overdue income tax.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech announced last week that people who failed to pay their income taxes and had accumulated penalties could benefit from up to a 90 per cent discount.

However, Opposition finance spokesman Charles Mangion yesterday called on the government to declare the number of people who would be able to benefit.

He asked how much the government expected to gain as a result of the amnesty and to specify the losses in uncollected revenue.

Through the scheme, defaulters would have to pay the reduced amount in full by January 15 and give up any objections or claims against the department.

The money collected would mitigate the loss of revenue the government is this year anticipating because of the international recession.

In a statement, Dr Mangion asked whether the government's decision was a political move or a sign of financial crisis, with the government having failed to meet its revenue targets.

While it was true that amnesty could be beneficial to the cash flow of companies, it was clear the government's decision was based on its financial failures, the Labour spokesman said.

He asked for a breakdown of the categories - employees, self-employed and companies - which would benefit from this amnesty.

He also asked whether the government agreed that such frequent amnesties could encourage people to delay their tax submissions, to the detriment of honest taxpayers. He even questioned whether the amnesty was linked to the Nationalist Party's pre-election promises.

In a separate statement, Alternattiva Demokratika asked whether the government's proposal to grant amnesty to income tax defaulters was primarily aimed to accommodate certain business interests.

"While incentives for on time payment should be encouraged, the government's aim should be to collect the actual payments due rather than impose over the top fines, which sometimes make it impossible for the actual payments due to be honoured," spokesman Michael Briguglio said.

In a statement last night, the Finance Ministry stressed that overdue tax would have to be paid in full, and it was only the penalties which were being reduced.