The new President of the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT) has used his first speech to urge the Government to make membership of a professional body mandatory for all providers of tax advice – to raise standards in the tax advice market and in turn give the public greater trust in their tax adviser.
In a speech to the ATT’s online AGM Richard Todd said that PII alone is unlikely to be sufficient to resolve the problems the Government has identified in the tax advice market: “Professional Indemnity Insurance is compulsory for ATT members in practice. That has been the case for many years [and] we definitely see PII as a good thing…
“It is, however, important to recognise the limitations of introducing mandatory PII for all providers of tax advice. PII should ensure that any substantiated claim made by a client against their adviser should be met. But real consumer protection requires so much more than just PII. It depends on rigorous professional standards and easy access to redress through complaint and disciplinary processes.
“Whilst mandatory PII is a necessary element in raising standards and trust in the tax advice market, it is definitely not sufficient in isolation. We continue to believe that membership of a professional body, such as ATT, should be mandatory for all providers of tax advice.”
