22 July 2025
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has released the draft legislation for new requirements for tax advisers who interact with them to register from 1 April 2026.
In the draft legislation the meaning of a tax adviser is laid out as such:
“1 Meaning of “tax adviser”
(1) In this Part “tax adviser” means a person who, in the course of a business, assists other persons with their tax affairs.
(2) A person assists another person with their tax affairs if they do any of the following—
(a) advise the other person in relation to tax;
(b) act or purport to act as an agent on behalf of the other person in relation to tax;
(c) provide assistance with any document that is likely to be relied on by HMRC to determine the other person’s tax position.
(3) A reference in this Part to clients of a tax adviser is a reference to the persons whom the adviser assists with their tax affairs.
(4) Subsection (3) applies even if—
(a) the adviser works for an organisation, and
(b) it is the organisation that is appointed to give the assistance.
(5) A person can be a tax adviser even if they (or any organisation for which they work)—
(a) are appointed indirectly or at the request of someone other than the client;
(b) also carry out activities other than assisting clients with their tax affairs.”
This definition would indicate that a payroll provider, such as a bureau, would be required to register with HMRC.
Of note for payroll software providers is the following exemption:
“(b) where the adviser falls within the definition of tax adviser solely by virtue of providing payroll, or other tax or accounting, software to a client for use in relation to their tax affairs;”
The CIPP Policy team are reaching out for clarification on the above to fully ensure that payroll professionals are proceeding correctly under the proposed rules. It is our current understanding that this would require payroll bureau and payroll service providers, but not payroll software providers who only provide a platform, to register.
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