New Tax Regulator to Raise Tax Advice Standards

The government has released a follow up consultation paper on raising the standards of tax advice in the UK. 

The original consultation saw that the government was targeting:

• Mandatory membership of a recognised professional body.
• Joint HMRC and industry regulation/enforcement with a separate statutory Government body (similar to the Financial Conduct Authority, the Pensions Regulator and the Prudential Regulatory Authority).

Any new regulatory body would look to:

• Increase technical education on tax matters for tax professionals.
• Increase tax awareness education on tax matters for consumers.
• Make it easier for professionals to access HMRC for tax advice (in a week when HMRC has been chastised for 1 hour wait times on helplines)

Tax and accountancy professionals, financial advisers and solicitors will all no doubt have an interest in any new tax regulator, improved HMRC access and education.

Comment

There are 30 questions asked by the government in the consultation paper with the 29 May the deadline for replies.

We believe that a ‘Tax’ regulator will be a good thing as there are professional bodies and regulators for Chartered and Certified Accountants, Chartered and Certified Financial Planners and Solicitors and Estate Practitioners, so it makes sense to have the same for professionals that interact with HMRC on behalf of their clients (corporate and personal).

We also believe this is a move to reduce pressure on HMRC given the increasing layers of tax legislation, different taxes, levels, and allowances that HMRC must deal with by establishing a separate body to enhance education and standards so that HMRC tax submissions are more accurate with less disputes as well as queries being reduced as tax professionals have another source for technical information, education and training.