European Commission to consult on regulatory framework for tax intermediaries

On 25 April 2022, the European Parliament's Permanent Subcommittee on Tax Matters held a hearing on regulation of the provision of tax advice across the European Union. During the hearing, the Commission announced that there will be a public consultation on the broader issue of regulating tax advisers.

A number of the speakers at the hearing mentioned the CFE Tax Advisers Europe discussion paper, Professional Judgment in Tax Planning – An Ethics Quality Bar for All Tax Advisers, which sets out a proposed ethics quality bar for advisers to reflect on when giving advice, or question whether there is manipulation and artificiality in tax planning.

The CFE's Professional Affairs Committee prepared this paper based on its long-standing commitment to high professional standards in tax advice. It aims to stimulate a discussion on how to tackle this problem among all who have an interest in how tax systems function in Europe. ICAEW played a role in the development of this paper.

ICAEW’s Tax Faculty anticipates that the UK government will also launch a consultation on the potential regulation of the UK tax advice market later in 2022. In advance of this, the faculty is reviewing international models for regulation of tax advisers.