fees of $50 to $2,500 was made into law last night.

Known officially as the 1995 Miscellaneous Taxes Amendment Act, it was passed by MPs after Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul adjusted it to exempt young professionals from paying the fees in their first three years of practice.

Dr. Saul said professional associations would simply be collecting the tax from individual members and not paying the fees themselves.

Under the new law, every registered member of a professional organisation must pay the tax, which ranges from $50 a year for nurses, occupational therapists and radiographers to a maximum annual rate of $2,500 for medical practitioners.

"It would not make sense to charge the associations because they do not by definition have the money,'' the Finance Minister said.

During the debate that preceded the bill's passage, Government backbencher Mr.

Harry Soares expressed several doubts over the fees, including the fear that membership in the Island's professional organisations would go into decline.

Since the tax was first proposed in the February Budget, several associations have voiced concerns that young professionals would be wary of joining organisations and older members would drop way.

But Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness defended the tax, saying that anyone who would resign from an association to avoid paying it was "immoral''.

Dr. Saul characterised the tax, which will go into effect next January 31, as a "Robin Hood'' stratagem.