This week's opinion

The decision of the Lord Chancellor not to accept the ICEAW’s application to be designated as an approved regulator and licensing authority for further reserved legal activities will be of interest to readers not least because taxation was one of the key areas covered in the institute’s application. The ruling like the decision a few years ago in the Prudential case about legal advice privilege again brings into sharp focus the fact that the UK tax profession is fragmented not only between lawyers and non-lawyers but also between those who hold an accountancy or tax qualification and those who do not. The ICAEW’s application (I should mention that I am neither a lawyer nor a chartered accountant) failed partly on regulatory grounds but also because the Lord Chancellor had concerns about ‘protecting the interests of consumers’. Consumer protection in tax matters is a topical matter – as the