Lead the way to an inclusive future this Pride month

We’re delighted to have been shortlisted for the Tolley's Taxation Awards in the 'Outstanding Contribution to Taxation in 2023-24 by a Not-for-profit Organisation' category. Well-known for being a prestigious industry accolade, each award is judged by experienced specialists and leading figures in the tax profession. This year sees the introduction of categories covering a range of tax technical areas, tax teams in industry, tax chambers of the year, as well as the taxation rising star award and mentor award. We are pleased to see a number of ICAS member firms included in the shortlist.

Being shortlisted for a second year in a row is recognition of the work that we do to support our members on a broad range of tax issues. This includes providing technical support, as well as representing feedback from our members at forums with both HMRC and the devolved tax authorities.

Unlike last year, there is no public vote and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Hilton London Metropole on Thursday 16 May 2024.

Why have we been shortlisted for the award?

ICAS has a small, but mighty, Tax Team with diverse skills and experience built from working in professional practice and with HMRC.

During the past 12 months we have:

• Influenced and improved the technical (distinct from the party political) content of tax legislation and guidance through proactive submissions and responses to technical consultations, as well as participation in consultative workshops with HM Treasury, HMRC and the devolved tax authorities.

During 2023, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment (MTD ITSA) has been a key forum where the ICAS Tax team exercised influence. We continue to take part in regular forum meetings, and attended four HMRC co-creation workshops in 2023. The workshops looked at some of the most challenging areas for the implementation of MTD ITSA, including jointly owned properties and self-employed accounting year ends that are not aligned with the tax year. Feedback from ICAS directly shaped the MTD ITSA announcements in the 2023 Autumn Statement.

• Met with HMRC to highlight the practical issues relating to their systems and service levels, following a consultation with our members.

We stressed the importance of retaining the Agent Dedicated Line (ADL) for agents. Although it is disappointing that service levels were reduced from October 2023 and further restrictions were made during the self-assessment peak period, the ADL does continue to operate and representations from the ICAS Tax Team have helped facilitate this.

• Worked with other professional bodies on matters of joint interest to influence and help facilitate improvements in the UK tax system.

In March 2023, we sent a joint letter with nine other professional bodies to the Chancellor, calling for the government to provide HMRC with the resources needed to tackle poor service levels.

• Suggested strategic and pragmatic tax changes to the UK tax system (for example, through letters to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury and other government ministers).

In April 2023, we worked with other main professional bodies to send a joint letter to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury (FST) about tax simplification, following the abolition of the Office of Tax Simplification. We offered support to HM Treasury and HMRC, and called for the government to deliver on its promise that tax simplification remains a priority. We held a meeting with the FST in May 2023 to discuss the joint letter, followed by discussions with HM Treasury and HMRC about how to embed simplification in policy and process. As a result, a joint oversight forum has been established.

• Represented ICAS at government and HMRC forum policy and strategy level to ensure that our members’ views on tax are heard.

In October 2023, we gave oral and written evidence to the House of Lords Finance Bill sub-committee inquiry into the draft Finance Bill. The sub-committee was considering the proposed merger of the existing R&D tax relief schemes, the requirement for some taxpayers to provide additional data to HMRC, and new measures to tackle promoters of tax avoidance.

• Presented webinars about tax developments, consultations or other tax-related matters to our members and the public.

During 2023, we produced 13 tax-related ICAS webinars to provide technical support to help our members in practice support their clients. A total of 2,429 attended these webinars, an increase of 110% compared with 2022.

• Issued press releases and contributed to public awareness of tax issues by producing proactive thought leadership resources.

During 2023, we issued a press release on our concerns about the impact on businesses and agents of MTD ITSA quarterly reporting and highlighting the letter we sent to the business minister, Kevin Hollinrake, calling for MTD quarterly reporting to be restricted to businesses over the VAT threshold.

Our contribution to the tax realm

During 2023, we held regular meetings with HMRC’s mid-sized business leadership team to discuss issues affecting SMEs and their advisers. This included meetings on the HMRC initiatives to assist these businesses – such as the two services accessible from gov.uk and the temporary Customer Compliance Manager scheme (tCCM). In respect of tCCM, we collaborated with HMRC to produce resources for our members and hosted a webinar to explain how the tCCM service could benefit our members and their clients.

On basis period reform, we provided input into the development of the process for agents to obtain overlap relief details for their clients, and into HMRC communications about the transitional year and the new rules. In September 2023, we held a dedicated webinar on basis period reform for our members.

Through the Issues Overview Group, we have raised issues of concern to our members. Specifically in respect to corporation tax amended returns for periods of account exceeding 12 months, problems submitting corporation tax returns and the need to retain an original paper copy of capital gains tax holdover relief claim forms. These issues have been resolved by HMRC, with guidance provided in issues 112, 113 and 114 respectively of the agent update.

As part of the Agent Digital Design and Advisory Group (ADDAG), we have discussed practical issues with HMRC digital systems for agents and agent authorisation on behalf of our members.

Through the employment forums, we have highlighted the need for an offsetting mechanism in the off-payroll working regime with HMRC. It was pleasing to hear in the 2024 Autumn Statement that this mechanism will be introduced. Justine Riccomini, Head of Tax (Employment and Devolved Taxes) has also had discussions at the Construction Forum on the need to exempt more payments from landlords to tenants from the Construction Industry Scheme. The change announced in the Autumn Statement should help some landlords to find tenants for their commercial premises.

Our members told us about the problems they had experienced with capital gains tax. We raised this through the Capital Taxes Liaison Group (CTLG), and HMRC confirmed that the four-year time limit runs from the date when all of the conditions for making a claim are satisfied (it is not linked to the date of the original disposal). The HMRC policy team agreed to add an example to HMRC manual CG14805 to make this clear. An example was also added to HMRC manual CG14933 to clarify a similar issue with Section 48 claims (irrecoverable deferred consideration). Through the CTLG and the Trusts and Estates Agent Advisory Group, we have also given input and raised issues relating to capital taxes and trusts, including the Trust Registration Service.

Good luck to everyone shortlisted

We would like to wish all those shortlisted the best of luck ahead of the awards ceremony. Details of the shortlist can be found on the Tolley's Taxation Awards website.