Qualified v unqualified accountants

The controversial tax rules known as IR35 have seen many IT contractors hiring unqualified so-called tax experts to advise them on payroll, invoicing, accountancy and tax matters.

But many of these advisers are not qualified to give advice especially in a complex area of legislation such as IR35.

Contractor UK reported that many companies now advertising as ‘tax experts’ are actually unqualified. This could also mean that they don’t carry PI insurance nor do they keep up to date on new tax laws, as qualified accountants must do.

These unqualified ‘tax experts’ are likely to be salesmen, whose sole job is to sell the services of their company, and not the correct solution for the tax payer’s particular circumstances.

When appointing a new accountant we suggest you ask them what professional body they are a member of, what qualifications they have and whether they carry PI insurance to cover any mistakes they might make.