From 1 March 2017, members of seven professional tax and accounting bodies will be prevented from promoting or creating tax avoidance schemes under a new code of Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation.
- The professional bodies have been challenged by government to take a greater lead and responsibility:
- To set and enforce clear professional standards around facilitation and promotion of avoidance.
- To protect the reputation of the tax and accountancy profession.
- To act for the greater public good.
- In response, the AAT, ACCA, ATT, CIOT, ICAEW, ICAS and STEP have jointly established new ethical guidelines and code of conduct restricting what their members can do.
- The new Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT) covers any structure or arrangement that is artificial, contrived, or seeks to exploit loopholes in tax law.
- The new PCRT will apply from 1 March 2017.
The guidelines are endorsed by HMRC.
External links to PCRT versions:
Current Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation
Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation effective from 1 March 2017
Links to our guides
Penalties for accountants and advisers
Promoters of Tax Avoidance Schemes (POTAS)
Penalties: Enablers of Tax Avoidance