Who should regulate the tax advisory sector?

The regulation of the tax advisory sector has long been a matter of concern and recently the subject of a government consultation which essentially kicked the issue into the long grass. TaxWatch’s latest report ‘Regulation of the tax advisory market: The effect of non-regulation and the case for change’ (tinyurl.com/taxwatchrep) highlights significant flaws in the current self-regulatory framework which tasks professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) with overseeing the professional conduct of tax advisers. As our report highlights they are neither designed for nor capable of fulfilling this role.

The expectation placed on professional bodies is that they should uphold the integrity of the tax advisory sector ensuring that advisers operate within the law provide high...