CEOs Welcome: Knowledge sharing

Since the publication on Legislation Day of the draft 2023/24 Finance Bill, the ATT and CIOT technical teams have been working hard reviewing, analysing and evaluating the impact of these clauses, and the effect that they will have on taxpayers, members and their clients. They are ensuring that the legislation is drafted in a way that supports how it is intended to work in practice and that there are no unforeseen consequences.

This is often the last opportunity for us to comment on proposed legislation before it becomes enshrined in an Act, so it’s really useful to get as much input into the responses as possible. The deadline for submitting comments on the draft legislation is tight, 12 September 2023, but our technical teams would love to hear from you if you have any comments that you would like to contribute. Let them know by emailing [email protected] or [email protected].

It seems like no monthly update would be complete without mentioning HMRC’s service levels. However, this month we hope that by the time you are reading this article there is some good news and that the Self-Assessment helpline will be fully operational (expected from 4 September), allowing taxpayers once again the choice to contact HMRC by telephone. Having the ability to call and speak to someone is so important for so many taxpayers, especially those who are uncomfortable using HMRC’s preferred online tools and may not meet the criteria for extra support. Thank you to everyone who responded to our HMRC service level surveys. We are consolidating responses and will be providing anonymised feedback to HMRC for a second time. Do see Gary’s update on page XX for further detail.

As educational charities, one of our main charitable objectives is advancing the education of taxation to our students, members and the wider public. With this in mind, the ATT technical team have recently recorded 13 videos covering membership, ATT Qualifications, educational videos for taxpayers and educational videos for children and young people. Please take a look at them on our website (www.att.org.uk/media-centre/videos-and-audio) or on our You Tube channel at youtube.com/@ourATT) and let us know what you think.

The CIOT is welcoming a delegation from fellow CFE Tax Advisers Europe member organisation, the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic, in early September as part of a knowledge share. Representatives from the Chamber and some of their members will be visiting us to learn more about how we deliver exams, our approach to PCRT and professional standards, and the complexities of our tax system and our interaction and relationship with HMRC.

The world of tax is ever changing, and we are constantly striving for ways to help keep our members fully up to date with new developments using our regular emails, Employer Focus, branch meetings, conferences and webinars. If you are an ATT Fellow, a date for your diary is 18 October, when we will be holding our next online ATT Fellows Webinar. More details and how to register will be published through our weekly emails, but the webinar will follow the same format as previous webinars with a main presentation on a current topical area followed by three break-out sessions on interesting practical subjects for group discussion and participation.

The CIOT’s Autumn residential conference returns to Queens’ College, Cambridge on the weekend of 15 to 17 September 2023. There may still be spaces so if you are interested, please email our events team at
[email protected]. The programme is available here at tinyurl.com/mr3s8xms. We look forward to seeing you there!