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Tax trade bodies have welcomed the publication of the consultative document Working with Tax Agents, which was issued today as part of the Budget 2009 documentation.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) said that, in principle, anything that enhances the standard of tax compliance must be good news for taxpayers, agents and the Government.
Consultation documents have too often in the past been issued at a time when the main decisions had already been made and there was therefore very little scope for reshaping the fundamentals, the institute added.
Deputy president Andrew Hubbard said that the CIOT 'will want to consider the proposals in the consultation document at some length before giving a final view on what has been proposed.
'Our overriding concern at this stage is that - if there is to be some form of registration or enforcement of minimum standards - this is done consistently across the whole of the agent population.
'It would be a disaster if a well intentioned move to encourage HMRC and professional bodies to impose tough performance standards on tax agents had the result of creating an alternative cheap-and-cheerful market for tax advice with little or no sanction over agent behaviour.'
There are many high-quality advisers in the UK who have no professional qualifications, remarked the CIOT, which stated its belief that this sector of the agent population would also welcome sensible attempts to enhance the overall quality of taxation advice.
Andrew Hubbard said: 'Our other key area of concern is that whatever results from this consultation process should not have the effect of driving up the costs of tax compliance. At a time when many businesses are seeking to control costs as never before, additional tax fees will be especially unwelcome.'
Paul Aplin of the ICAEW Tax Faculty said he was pleased that Working with Tax Agents 'explicitly acknowledges that without tax agents - and particularly because of the role of professional bodies in setting standards for their members - the UK tax system as we know it would simply not function'.
He continued: 'This is a sensitive issue, and I think that it is right for the consultation to raise issues and ask questions rather than propose definite solutions.
Although there have been concerns in the past that HMRC may have favoured some form of registration or regulation, the consultation document confirms that [the Revenue] is not currently thinking along these lines. I think that is to be welcomed.
'The ICAEW will engage fully with HMRC on this consultation.'
