v AVAILABLE ON ALL DEVICES v 14th May 2026 • The HERALD • Page 71 Are you ready for Making Tax Digital? Sole Trader - Limited Company Self Assessment, Accounts, Payroll Please call Johanna on 023 8089 9365 ASK A PROFESSIONAL COMPLIANCE SHAKE-UP BY HMRC Conveyancing solicitors and payroll teams are among local professional advisers who may nd themselves on the wrong side of the law from May – with penalties of up to £10,000 for compliance breaches. ey must, under the wide de nition of ‘tax adviser’, mandatorily register with HMRC by then if they interact or submit documents to the HMRC on behalf of clients. “There are going to be some costly errors made by unsuspecting organisations or individual sole traders who assist other people with their tax affairs,” warned Rick Scho eld, a tax partner at Azets. “This compliance shakeup is going to catch a lot of people out, the good as well as the bad, such as when it comes to stamp duty returns or chasing a PAYE code.” e scheme replaces a voluntary registration system. Rick, who specialises on advising on personal and company taxation matters, said: “The new regulations will affect all tax advisers who interact with HMRC on behalf of their clients – and tax advisers are those who provide professional tax advice and services, such as a conveyancing solicitor, but might not necessarily fall into the sole remit of accountants. Payroll teams are not exempt either – you must register even if it is an email or portal enquiry to chase a PAYE code for a member of staff.” Rick said that advisers within professional partnerships are in the dark about whether the rm or the individual would be on the hook for breaches. “Perhaps, to be on the safe side, partnerships may decide that it would be somewhat prudential for each partner to register with HMRC, even if they don’t submit the paperwork to HMRC in the normal course of their duties. It has been mooted by the accountancy profession, to Parliament, that the registration places unfair burdens on smaller tax adviser firms when compared to larger ones. “Of course, everyone is looking to HMRC for an exhaustive do’s and don’ts list but nothing is forthcoming yet, adding to a sense of filing doom from May. People just want clarity and guidance.” According to HMRC, the policy “ensures all tax advisers interacting with HMRC on behalf of their clients meet minimum standards”; that the changes “will improve HMRC’s ability to monitor and exclude tax advisers who are objectively unable to meet HMRC’s Standards for Agents or cannot lawfully act as a tax adviser”. A digital registration process will be available, with a non-digital alternative for those who are digitally excluded; HMRC states that it is investing £36m to modernise existing registration services. e process starts in May, with a transitional period of at least three months for all tax adviser groups; there are no registration fees. In a policy paper published last November, HMRC stated that individual taxpayers will not be directly a ected by the requirement for their tax advisers, whether UK based or overseas, to register with HMRC before they can act on their behalf. Rick said: “However, individual taxpayers may be affected if their tax advisers are no longer able to act on their behalf because they are either unable to satisfy the new registration requirements imposed on (UK based and overseas) tax advisers, or if their tax adviser is subject to sanction. You may see individual taxpayers left in expensive limbo, and facing late penalty fines, if their agents decline to send documentation to HMRC for whatever reason.” Penalties range from £5,000 to £10,000. Payroll teams at companies are already under pressure with the government’s 6th April introduction of holiday pay compliance – the new Fair Work Agency can impose he y nes or open criminal investigations for worker exploitation if paperwork is incorrect and sta are underpaid. Rick Schofield, tax partner at Azets
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