Thoughts from CIOT on raising standards in the tax advice market

Many tax professionals will be aware that HMRC published a consultation exploring options for raising standards in the tax services market in March (tinyurl.com/hmrcraisingstandards). This is a significant step forward in the long-running debate of whether the industry should be regulated and if so by whom.

The consultation highlights the fact that many members of the public are surprised to find out that the industry isn’t already regulated and that anyone regardless of any qualifications can provide tax advice. We also understand that the recent issues such as those concerning the loan charge and high volume repayment agents have put the question of regulation firmly on the ministerial radar as one that needs addressing (and we have heard nothing to suggest that a new government would wish to row back from looking at the issue).

The question of whether regulation in...