Accountants and advisers who help the rich and famous to avoid tax could soon be hit with tough new penalties.

Under the proposals, the taxman would be able to fine 'enablers' to celebrities, sports stars and millionaires up to 100 per cent of the value of the scheme.

Ministers hope to reduce the number of aggressive tax avoidance plans on the market, by cutting out the middlemen.

But experts warned that the rules could backfire, hitting law abiders and letting the real culprits, many based overseas, off scot free.

Last year it was reported that Scots football stars were being targeted by the taxman, with cash demands totalling millions of pounds.

There was also public outrage after it emerged that Take That star Gary Barlow and comedian Jimmy Carr had used tax avoidance schemes.

Mr Carr's advisers were reported to be a Scottish business consultancy based in Kirkcaldy, Fife, called Peak Performance.

Lady Mone of Mayfair, the new business start-up czar, also avoided tax using a scheme once branded "morally repugnant" by Chancellor George Osborne.

The lingerie entrepreneur used employee benefit trusts (EBTs), the same loophole that landed Rangers FC in court.

The new crackdown is set out in a consultation launched today by the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Jane Ellison.

At the moment tax avoiders face significant financial costs when defeated by HMRC in court.

But their advisers bear little risk.

Conservative ministers now want to target all the steps in the supply chain.

Ms Ellison said that ministers hoped the tough new measures would lead to a fall in the number of tax avoidance schemes on the market.

She said: “People who peddle tax avoidance schemes deny the country of vital tax revenue and this government is determined to make sure they pay.

“The vast majority of their schemes don’t work and can land their users in court facing large tax bills and other costs.

“These tough new sanctions will make would-be enablers think twice and in turn reduce the number of schemes on the market.”

But experts warned that the rules could have the opposite effect.

With only a small minority promoting aggressive tax avoidance schemes. the new fines risk cracking down on legitimate businesses while allowing its real targets to escape.

Frank Haskew, from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), said: "The Government needs to ensure any new rules are properly targeted only to tackle those advisors that promote aggressive tax schemes rather than the vast majority of reputable advisers engaged in ordinary tax planning.

"Anecdotal evidence suggests that many of these promoters are based offshore and operate outside of any regulatory framework, so actually hitting them with a penalty may prove more difficult in practice."

"If the measures now proposed are too widely targeted, there is a danger that reputable professional advisers could still end up being caught in the crossfire when advising on legitimate tax planning, while the real targets escape any penalty.”