26 August 2025
For this Quick Poll, we wanted to get perspective on two linked issues. Firstly, do you think payroll professionals should be considered tax advisers and, secondly, for those in payroll services, do you hold anti-money laundering (AML) supervision?
These stem from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) current focus on Modernising and mandating tax adviser registration with HMRC. These results will help us form our written response to the draft legislation and represent the views of the profession.
|
Do you think payroll professionals should be considered tax advisers? |
Response (%) |
|
Yes |
21% |
|
No |
68% |
|
Not sure |
11% |
Over two thirds of respondents don’t think payroll should be considered tax advisers. A not insignificant minority of 21% do think that payroll could be considered tax advisers. There are some compelling reasons to consider this, such as ensuring standards are kept high in the industry. However, there may be other ways to achieve this.
|
Do you have Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervision? |
Response (%) |
|
Yes, we are part of an accountancy business |
46.3% |
|
Yes, we only provide payroll services |
21.2% |
|
No |
32.5% |
The draft legislation would require tax advisers, which would include companies providing payroll services and interacting with HMRC on their clients behalf, to be registered for AML supervision. Almost half of respondents would be covered by existing AML supervision as part of operating as an accountancy business. The remaining half of respondents were split between holding AML supervision as a payroll only service (21.2%) and not holding any supervision (32.5%).
Thank you for your responses, please keep an eye out for the next Quick Poll.
Information provided in this news article may be subject to change. Please make note of the date of publication to ensure that you are viewing up to date information.