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Mala Kapacee’s article ‘Is the ministry interfering...’ on page 8 prompted me to take another look at HMRC’s consultation on raising standards (tinyurl.com/wqhqkar). An aspect I had not really taken note of before was the suggestion (paragraph 80) that there could be some form of independent web-rating service for tax along the lines of Trip Advisor.
If I go on holiday I know whether I have had a good time and I can make an objective rating. Does the same apply to tax advice? Clients could certainly comment on the service they received – were my phone calls answered? was the bill reasonable? – but could they comment about the quality of the advice itself? For example, clients of a firm that was deliberately overcooking expenses claims might be delighted that their adviser was saving them so much tax – at least until HMRC came knocking on the door. Similarly, a client might mark down an adviser because they were making them pay more tax than their ‘friends down the pub’, even though the reality was that the adviser was giving the best service.
This is not to dismiss the idea of a web-rating service: in a free society people have a right to comment. But I would be very nervous of advisers’ livelihoods being based, even to some extent, on web-based feedback. Consumer protection is important, and it reasonable for HMRC to take it into account in looking at standards within our profession. But let’s not go down a route which directly links online feedback to professional competence.
