The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has published a response to the call by HMRC for new regulation to raise tax advice standards.

In this document, the Tax Faculty for ICAEW argues that the priority should be ensuring that those who promote dubious tax schemes are blocked from being able to operate and that, if this can be achieved, the tax services sector as a whole does not need to be subjected to further regulation. It goes on to argue that the best way to accomplish the task would be for HMRC to cooperate with those organisations leading the PCRT (Professional Conduct in Relation to Tax) standard in rooting out these unscrupulous operators.

The ICAEW report also states that HMRC can use its existing powers to restrict the promotion of tax avoidance loopholes. It concludes by saying that the tax authority should do more to encourage the use of reputable professional advisors, such as accountants that handle tax return services in South Yorkshire and other parts of the UK.

The report argues against additional tax services regulation because it believes that this would negatively impact the entire sector when companies are trying to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, as it would lead to a rise in the financial burdens that firms would have to deal with.

It points out that these would not produce much in the way of benefits to HMRC, the government or the general public that would counteract their effects on the tax service providers.