HMRC: Registration began last month
HM Revenue & Customs has finally issued detailed guidance on when conveyancers need to register with it as tax advisers.
Registration depends on the activities undertaken, rather than the professional title of the individual or organisation, it stressed in a newly published internal manual [1] of mandatory tax adviser registration.
“As a result, conveyancers and other businesses may still be required to register even if they don’t see themselves as a tax adviser or interacting with HMRC does not form a significant part of their business.”
The government has pressed ahead with including conveyancers in the scheme despite strong opposition [2].
The requirement came into force on 18 May and advisers have three months to apply to register.
A failure to register could lead to a formal notice to stop providing tax advice and a temporary or permanent ban from being able to register.
The manual said a conveyancer was likely to be acting as a tax adviser and required to register if they submitted stamp duty land tax (SDLT) returns to HMRC on behalf of clients, interacted with HMRC about a client’s SDLT liabilities, made payments of SDLT or any other taxes arising from property transactions on behalf of clients, or otherwise interacted with HMRC on behalf of clients in relation to SDLT or any other taxes arising from property transactions.
“Submitting an SDLT return on behalf of a client is assisting with a document that HMRC is likely to rely on to determine a person’s tax position and therefore constitutes interaction with HMRC in relation to tax.”
Separating the SDLT payment from filing the return does not remove the requirement to register – where filing is outsourced, for example, both businesses have to register.
At the same time, conveyancers who do not interact with HMRC directly on behalf of their clients do not have to register.
According to the manual, this includes merely explaining the tax consequences of a transaction to a client, providing general or factual information about SDLT rates, reliefs or deadlines, and undertaking conveyancing work where all tax returns and payments are completed directly by the client or another registered tax adviser.