Guidance

There are various sources of information for members to help them understand how to meet their legal responsibilities.

AML Guidance for the Accountancy Sector (AMLGAS) produced by the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB)

Updated guidance was issued in March 2018 and can be accessed here or in the downloads section below HM Treasury has approved this guidance and therefore Courts must consider the content of the Guidance when determining whether an accountant’s or tax adviser’s conduct gives rise to an offence under either the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Terrorism Act 2000 or the The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (known as Money Laundering Regulations (MLR) 2017. Members and firms which are registered with the CIOT as their supervisory authority should follow this guidance. Members who are supervised by another supervisory authority will need to take account of the guidance issued by that authority. Members who are lawyers (even if they are acting as tax advisers) should consult the guidance issued by the professional body governing their legal qualification.

AMLGAS has been prepared jointly by the CCAB bodies, ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS, ICAI and CIPFA and has been approved by the UK accountancy supervisory bodies including CIOT and ATT.

A copy of the previous guidance can be downloaded here or in the downloads section below. This includes the guidance for the tax sector in an appendix (it is not stand-alone guidance so both parts should be read together). An update to this appendix has not yet been issued to include any changes resulting from the 2017 Regulations.

The tax sector appendix to AMLGAS is being developed in conjunction with ATT, ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS and HMRC and focuses on the interaction between Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance and tax offences as well as covering the issues that a tax practitioner is most likely to encounter in practice. We will update the website when the updated appendix has been approved by HM Treasury.

If you are self-employed and not covered by the AML supervision of another professional body, you are obliged to join the CIOT's AML Registration Scheme.