Government decides not to go ahead with tax adviser regulation

The news that the government won’t regulate tax advisers has been very much welcomed by tax experts.

With tax advisers already facing multiple changes, such as mandatory registration of tax agents, the decision to hold off on regulation will be a huge relief for those concerned.

Raising standards in the market

While the decision to regulate tax advisers has been scrapped, the government will instead work in partnership with the sector to raise standards within the tax advice market.

The Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) has backed this move, saying that while it supports the decision not to move ahead with the proposed regulation, work must be done to raise standards in the market to ensure taxpayers are not given poor advice.

Commenting on this, Emma Rawson, ATT Director of Public Policy, said, “With the forthcoming mandatory registration of tax agents, and the transition of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervision from professional bodies to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), tax advisers already face significant changes over the next few years.

“However, there must be a focus on raising standards and introducing safeguards in order to significantly reduce the risk of poor-quality or misleading guidance being given to taxpayers.

“We therefore look forward to HMRC building on the introduction of the agent register and future discussions about a clearer, more coherent approach to raising standards.”

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