General Guidance

This document was produced by a collaborative working party of ATT, CIOT, ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS, CIMA, IIT. These engagement letters are currently not examinable. Students are required to study those found within PRPG.

This guidance provides a list of mortgage lenders who will accept financial references prepared by chartered tax advisers. We are aware from members that some lenders appear to have changed their policy and are no longer accepting ATT/CTA as someone able to certify financial references. We have left the names of lending organisations on the list unless we have been formally notified by the lender (as this still reflects the agreed position) – some of the rejections appear to stem from a local decision rather than a central one by the organisation. Thus it would be worth challenging any rejection by asking the branch to refer to their Head Office. We have approached the Council of Mortgage Lenders with a view to trying to resolve the position centrally and get some clarity on the position for both lender and adviser. As soon as there is any news we will post it on the website; in the meantime please do tell us by e mailing Heather Brehcist (hbrehcist@ciot.org.uk) of further problems in this area.

HM Revenue & Customs, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association have worked together on the development of the Mortgage Verification Scheme to help beat mortgage fraud. The new scheme launched on 1 September. Mortgage lenders can send relevant details of mortgage applications where they have inadequate evidence of declared income or suspect fraud using a secure electronic platform to a specialised unit in HMRC. For a £14 admin fee, HMRC will check income details declared to lenders against information provided in income tax and employment returns, and advise lenders whether or not the details correspond, to help them assess the risk and inform their lending decisions.

Sections 3.5 and 3.6 of the Professional Rules and Practice Guidelines recommend that a member who is a sole practitioner should make suitable arrangements to ensure that his practice can continue to be carried on in the event of his illness, temporary or permanent incapacity, or death. This guidance includes appointing an alternate and a sample agreement.

Under the Services Directive CIOT and ATT members in practice must provide certain information to clients and prospective clients. The information must be supplied before the conclusion of a contract for the provision of the service or, where there is no contract, before the services are provided. A helpsheet giving further details is attached.

HMRC have launched their Managing Deliberate Defaulters (MDD) programme, which aims to deter and tackle tax defaulters. Tax advisers need to be aware of the programme and may need to consider its implications, especially when engaging new clients.

This guidance provides assistance for members who are representing clients at Tribunals, including considering ethical principles.

The CIOT and ATT have prepared a briefing note on some of the Professional Standards issues which arise out of the UK/Swiss Tax Deal. For more information click here.