By Legal Futures Associate Miller Insurance
In recognition of the evolving nature of this topic, and the need to share up-to-date and helpful insight, we’re grateful for the feedback shared with us in response to our previous release considering the impact on law firms of the HMRC guidance regarding the new registration requirements for tax advisers (published in February 2026).
Our initial article explained that the guidance is clear: if you interact with HMRC about another person’s tax affairs and receive payment for doing so, you are considered a tax adviser. This view has not changed and law firms who submit any tax-related documents on behalf of clients (including SDLT returns) must meet the requirements for registration of tax advisers by the 18 May 2026 deadline.
However, insight sharing and guidance from John Shallcross (a stamp duty land tax specialist at Blake Morgan) prompted us to revisit and update our article.
Receiving payments
John made us aware that the terminology to “receive payment” for assisting with the land transaction return is a bit misleading and that he has seen “questions about trying to escape registration by not charging a separate fee for preparing and filing returns”, which does not work. John explained that the test is formulated in terms of whether the assistance is “in the course of a business”.
Criteria for registration
To comply with the registration requirements, your practice will need to do the following.
- Evidence that it is supervised for anti-money laundering (AML) purposes.
- Be up to date with tax returns and tax payments (including where a payment plan is in place).
- Be solvent.
- Have no unspent relevant convictions for fraud or tax offences.
- Not be suspended or permanently banned from registering with HMRC, or have been the subject of an HMRC decision to refuse to deal with the firm.
Relevant individuals (meaning those who have a significant role in managing the “tax adviser activities”) must meet broadly similar requirements. This includes not being disqualified from acting as a company director, either in the UK or overseas. Notably, if your practice has five or fewer officers (Partners, Directors, or Members), then all will have to meet these requirements.
