Accountants are being advised that there is just under a month left to submit responses to HMRCs ‘Working with Tax Agents’ consultation document. The consultation, which opened in early December last year will close on 3rd March 2010.
Dave Hartnett, who is the Treasury’s secretary for tax said that HMRC will be focusing on a very small minority of tax agents and contractor accountants. The actions of these indiduals are said to be bringng the accountancy profession as a whole into disrepute.
The government is keen to work closely with professional bodies such as ICAEW, ACCA and CIMA who’s members represent a large proportion of tax advisors and agents in the UK. They want greater disclosure with these associations to weed out the ‘bad eggs’ and promote a higher overall standard of professional conduct.
In addition, the government is determined to beef up it’s ability to tackle “deliberate wrongdoing” by tax agents through the use of financial penalties.
It is believed that HMRC will now target high volume accountants who generate large number of claims that have little or no value. Full information on the consultation, including details of how to respond, can be found on the HMRC website.
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