1. GENERAL NEWS
1.1. The future relationship between tax agents and HMRC
HMRC has issued a consultation paper regarding the practical
implementation of its strategy for engaging with tax agents in the
future.
Background
There is currently a lack of definition regarding the status of
a tax agent and this came to the fore in the recent judicial review
case of Christopher Lunn which followed HMRC's decision to
prevent the agent from filing clients' tax returns
electronically.
The HMRC Charter recognises that taxpayers have the right to
appoint an agent, but there is no 'one size fits all'
arrangement and agents range from the Big 4 accountancy firms to
one man bands.
HMRC has dramatically changed the way that it deals with most
taxpayers over the past decade. Whilst it now has specialist
offices that deal with large corporates and a relatively small
number of HNW individuals, it now relies on a call centre service
for the vast majority of taxpayers who do
