Retirement of Caroline Miskin

We are sorry to report that Caroline Miskin retired on 27 August 2025. Caroline joined the Tax Faculty in January 2016 as ICAEW’s tax practice manager, where she was responsible in particular for helping ICAEW members resolve service issues with HMRC. Caroline went on to become our senior digital tax manager and members’ go-to person on all things connected with Making Tax Digital (MTD) and agent access to digital services. Caroline was an inspirational member of the team and was widely admired and respected across the whole tax community. We will miss her knowledge and insights, but wish her all the best for a happy retirement.

Round tables on promoters, raising standards and mandatory registration of agents

Tax Faculty staff and volunteers have attended two round tables with HMRC on the three sets of draft legislation published in July 2025. While ICAEW has always supported the objective of driving bad actors out of the tax advice market through properly targeted measures, it has serious concerns that these measures risk damaging effects on business growth and have a potential to undermine, rather than improve, tax compliance. It has expressed these concerns at the round tables and ICAEW’s Chief Executive, Alan Vallance, has written to the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray MP, to request a meeting to discuss how the legislation for these three interrelated measures can be redrafted to achieve the policy intent of improving tax compliance without harming access to advice and weakening the UK’s professional and business services sector. 

Professional conduct in relation to taxation

The main professional conduct in relation to taxation (PCRT) group met on 20 August. All members of the PCRT group have now completed their governance processes to approve the latest update that reflects changes in consequence of the publication of the tax planning and related services pronouncement by the International Ethics Standards Board. The plan is to release the next version in October 2025 and it will apply from 1 January 2026. The working groups continue to work through comments received on the topical helpsheets covering research and development, AI and MTD. It is anticipated that these should be completed by the end of September.

HMRC service standards

HMRC’s service standards continue to be a major problem area for members, with continuing delays being reported on responding to post and in particular tax repayments. Tax Faculty staff and Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) colleagues met with the Exchequer Secretary, James Murray, to discuss the 2024 CIOT/ICAEW joint report into HMRC’s service standards and progress on implementing the 10 recommendations for improvement. We also had a catch-up meeting with the Adjudicator’s Office at which we shared current experiences of HMRC’s service standards, its compliance with the Charter and suggestions for improving HMRC’s guidance.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Ed Saltmarsh was invited to the team meeting of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Strategy Unit to present on the VAT liability of the Marks & Spencer ‘sando’. Ed used the opportunity to highlight the problems caused by the current VAT legislation, with countless disputes over the VAT liability of items at the rate boundaries. The feedback was very positive and an invitation to the department’s corporate strategy away day may follow.

Meetings with HMRC

During the month we attended a number of meetings with HMRC, some in conjunction with other representative bodies. These included: the Issues Overview Group; the HMRC Compliance Forum; and the Representative Bodies Steering Group.

Tax Faculty and other meetings

Meetings held during the month included: the Employment Taxes and National Insurance Contributions Committee; the Tax Policy and Reputation Committee; the Tax Faculty Board; and the Digital Assets Working Party (Tax). We also attended, along with other representative bodies, a meeting to discuss topics for the forthcoming inquiry by the House of Lords into the Finance Bill when it is published later this year. 

Representations and TAXguides

We submitted ICAEW Representation 62/25 Changes to charity compliance measures. 

Faculty webinars, events and podcasts

Our monthly podcast series, The Tax Track, continues to gather new listeners and get good feedback and engagement. In the latest episode, Stephen Relf, Technical Manager, interviewed Jonathan Athow, HMRC’s Director General for Customer Strategy and Tax Design on how HMRC intends to meet the priorities set for it by the government of modernising and reforming the tax system, improving customer service and closing the tax gap. 

Media activity

Katherine Ford’s comments on the taxation of winter fuel payments were picked up in the Daily Mirror and the Manchester Evening Post.

Ed Saltmarsh’s comments on the VAT liability of the M&S sando (see above) were picked up by the Financial Times.

TAXconnect comes to an end

And finally, please remember that TAXconnect will cease with effect from 30 September 2025. Read more about TAXconnect.