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Tax Agents may be given greater powers
Friday, June 3rd, 2011
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In a 42 page consultation document launched by HMRC on 1 June, there is a proposal that Tax Agents will be given powers to access HMRC’s systems to update tax codes and data for their clients. Such a system will obviously reduce the administration burden on HMRC and enable them to make savings. Many employers are frustrated by the time it takes to get tax codes and queries resolved and, should these proposals come about, it would be one small step towards getting speedier resolution of queries.
HMRC also recognise that there are many individuals, some 80,000 who provide assistance to family and friends and these will be looked at as a separate entity.
The proposed approach will be on the basis of stick and carrot whereby poor agents will be blacklisted from the system. So, how will HMRC decide whether an agent is good or poor? We understand that another consultation is to be launched later this year on tackling agents found to be acting dishonestly.
The consultation document can be downloaded from the following link:
The deadline for submissions to this consultation is 16 September 2011
