Get involved with the Tax Faculty

Applications are now open for up to two new members of the Tax Faculty Board. The deadline for applications is 6 February 2026.The Board has a number of responsibilities, including developing the faculty’s strategy and ICAEW’s priorities on tax, and reviewing activity and outcomes against those priorities. Further details on the Tax Faculty Board, including on how to join one of the Tax Faculty’s technical committees, are provided in a recent article. 

If you would be interested in joining one of our technical committees, giving you a chance to meet with your peers, contribute to our work and bank some CPD, then we would love to hear from you. The committees are a great way to put something back into the profession and you will enjoy being part of the Tax Faculty family – what’s not to like!  

Tax agent provisions in the Finance Bill

In advance of the start of the Finance Bill 2025-26 Committee stages, ICAEW staff and active members have continued to engage extensively with government and HMRC to try and improve the three interlocking sets of provisions in the Finance Bill that impact tax agents, namely: 

• the agent registration provisions; 
• the sanctionable conduct provisions (formerly the dishonest conduct provisions in Sch 38, FA 2012); and 
• further provisions to tackle those who promote tax avoidance schemes.  

We held numerous meetings with HMRC staff and we also met the Minister, Dan Tomlinson MP, where we emphasised our support for measures that are properly targeted and do not impose unnecessary costs and burdens on the vast majority of tax agents who do a good job and help to support good tax compliance. As a result of the discussions, the government has tabled further amendments that will make non-payment of Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Scheme (DOTAS) and Disclosure of Tax Avoidance Schemes: VAT and other indirect taxes (DASVOIT) penalties – not their imposition – a failure of a condition to be able to register with HMRC as a tax adviser.  

As noted last month, HMRC is also planning to work with the tax profession on further measures to raise standards in the tax advice market. A meeting has now been fixed for late February 2026 when we anticipate that HMRC’s proposals will be clarified and we will share more information when it becomes available. 

Finance Bill representations

In advance of the Finance Bill Committee stage, which started on 27 January 2026, the Tax Faculty submitted further briefings on the Bill. We were pleased to see that, as a result of representations made by ICAEW and others, major improvements were announced to the inheritance tax (IHT) agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) measures (as explained in a recent article). In addition, changes have been made to pensions administration measures in respect of unused pensions included in an estate on death, which as originally drafted would have made it difficult for executors to undertake their role given the potential for conflict with the pension provider. Copies of our briefings will be published online in due course. 

On 28 January 2026, the House of Lords Economic Affairs Finance Bill Sub-Committee published its report into the Finance Bill IHT measures on pensions and APR/BPR. ICAEW gave written and verbal evidence to the Committee, and we were quoted numerous times in the report. HMRC was criticised for its lack of meaningful consultation and the lack of certainty in light of subsequent policy changes. Some of the measures we advocated for have been adopted (including increasing the APR/BPR 100% allowance to £2.5m and making it transferable between spouses) and we are still pushing for amendments in other areas. 

Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation

The revised Professional Conduct in Relation to Taxation (PCRT), which now reflects the changes made as a result of the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) Tax Planning and Related Services pronouncements, took effect from 1 January 2026. The seven PCRT bodies and associations published a joint press release to accompany the revised PCRT, including a quote from me as chair of the PCRT working party. The process to amend the PCRT to reflect the IESBA changes while remaining the ‘go to’ standard for UK professional tax advisers proved more challenging and time consuming than we anticipated, but the final revised PCRT has been well received and I would like to thank all my PCRT colleagues, especially Lindsey Wicks and Jane Mellor at the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), for their help and support in seeing this revision through to a successful conclusion.  

In addition to the publication of the revised PCRT, the PCRT bodies have also published topical guidance to help members apply the PCRT fundamental principles when using artificial intelligence (AI) tools in tax work. The purpose of the topical guidance is explained in a recent article. This is especially timely given the increase in interest in AI tools and some recent cases where courts have criticised advisers for relying on court decisions that turn out to be fictitious. The guidance emphasises that professional tax agents need to exercise professional judgement with any AI created results and not just take results at face value. My thanks go to the AI working party which produced the guidance – it was a great team effort between the PCRT bodies.  

The PCRT bodies are also finalising a revision to the existing topical guidance on research and development (R&D) – it is expected that this will be published in February 2026. Once this guidance has been published, the PCRT group has agreed to turn its attention to the existing Helpsheets A to E and whether they need to be revised in the light of developments such as the IESBA tax pronouncement mentioned above.      

OECD Global Forum on VAT

Ed Saltmarsh attended the sixth meeting of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Global Forum on VAT. The forum offered the opportunity to share policy analysis and experience, identify best practices and strengthen international co-operation. Over 300 delegates attended from more than 100 countries. Topics for discussion included the securing revenue from low value imports, e-invoicing and continuous transactional reporting, and VAT in the age of digital transformation including AI.   

Welsh Revenue Authority consultation

ICAEW responded to the Welsh Revenue Authority's (WRA) consultation on amendments to the Welsh Tax Acts. The consultation covers a broad range of issues across the delegated taxes. A copy of our response will be published online in due course. 

Meetings with HMRC

In addition to the meetings with HMRC staff mentioned above in respect of the tax agent provisions, ICAEW Tax Faculty staff attended several other meetings with HMRC, often in conjunction with other representative bodies. These included: the Compliance Reform Forum; the Joint VAT Consultative Committee; and an e-invoicing co-creation workshop. 

Tax Faculty and other meetings

Meetings held during the month included: weekly meetings of the Tax Policy & Reputation Committee; the Tax Faculty Board; The Technical and Oversight Committee, and the Digital assets working group (tax).  

At HMRC’s invitation, Lindsey Wicks and Stephen Relf delivered a presentation to the Making Tax Digital (MTD) External Readiness Forum. HMRC were keen for members of the forum to learn more about ICAEW’s efforts in helping members prepare for MTD income tax, including publishing articles, delivering webinars and hosting events.  

Faculty webinars, events and podcasts

In the latest episode of our podcast series, The Tax Track, Richard Jones and Katherine Ford joined Stephen Relf to talk about the Finance Bill 2025-26 measures affecting individuals and businesses. 

Media activity

City AM reported on ICAEW’s article Tax advisers face existential threat in 2026, warns ICAEW in its article Accountancy body warns Finance Bill could criminalise honest mistakes.  

Ed Saltmarsh had an article on VAT reform published in Croner-i’s Tax Weekly: How VAT reform could transform the UK’s economy (paywall).  

Lindsey Wicks was quoted by The Guardian in an article covering HMRC delays in making repayments.