Last week HMRC published guidance on mandatory tax adviser registration which will officially open for registrations from 18 May 2026. The guidance sets out the timetable for registrations and information on how to check if you meet HMRC’s conditions to register. Importantly, if an agent already has an agent services account (ASA), the agent will not need to register again. HMRC will subsequently contact the agent via its ASA when it needs more information in order to check that the agent meets certain conditions. The Institute has set out below important advice on what actions tax advisers need to take to get ready for these changes.
Agents who do not have an ASA and who meet the conditions to register will need to register for an ASA from 18 May 2026, unless one of the following applies:
- if the agent already has a Self-Assessment or Corporation Tax account, registration is required from 18 August 2026, and
- if the agent only provides third-party payroll services on behalf of clients and does not interact with HMRC in any other way, registration is required from 18 November 2026.
However, an agent will be able to use HMRC’s new online service, which will be available in the coming months, to register from 18 May 2026, even if not required to do so until a later date.
What does mandatory tax adviser registration mean?
Registration will be required for any ‘tax adviser’ who interacts with HMRC in relation to the tax affairs of their clients, irrespective of where the adviser or the client is in the world or where the services are provided from. The draft legislation defines ‘tax adviser’ as an organisation or individual who, in the course of a business carried on by them, assists other persons with their tax affairs. This is then defined broadly defined to include:
- Providing advice in relation to tax,
- Acting or purporting to act as an agent on behalf of the other person in relation to tax, or
- Providing assistance with any document that is likely to be relied on by HMRC to determine the other person’s tax position.
Who needs to register?
Registration is required at firm level. However, certain registration conditions can still apply to individual staff members within the firm and individual officers of the firm (including partners, directors, and LLP members). If a tax adviser operates a sole trade, they will need to individually register in their own name. There are limited exceptions and exemptions to the requirement to register. For example, HMRC has already confirmed that those who provide pro-bono tax advice and ‘in-house’ tax advice in their own or their employer’s business are not within the scope of the regime.
How will advisers register?
HMRC has been allocated £36 million to develop a new dedicated online registration system which remains in development and is not yet available. Initial registration and maintenance of a tax adviser’s registration will be free and not subject to a charge.
From recent discussions with HMRC about the new system, it seems that this will involve the existing agent identifying who their relevant individuals are, which will then require those individuals to provide permission for HMRC to share their personal data with their firm if this is related to the registration conditions. The agent will then need to confirm that their firm meets the registration conditions or explain if they do not.
What information needs to be provided when registering?
The exact registration requirements are awaited from HMRC. However, we do know that applications for registration will need to include:
- The name and address of the firm,
- The name of each ‘relevant individual’ in the firm (essentially, those individuals with responsibility for the tax work undertaken by the firm. However, for some firms the definition may be wider than this as there are minimum numbers of ‘relevant individuals’ who must be named),
- A statement that each of the three registration conditions are met, or ifthese are not, there must be an explanation why, and
- Any other information as HMRC may specify in a notice (we are not yet aware what this may be as no such notice has yet been published).
Essentially, the number of relevant individuals to be named depends on how many ‘officers’ (company directors, partners in partnerships, and members of LLPs etc.) a firm has. Notably, the draft legislation in the Finance Bill does not cap the number of relevant individuals at five and the legislation sets out different requirements for firms with five or fewer officers and those with six or more.
What happens after a registration application is made?
HMRC will consider the tax adviser’s registration application and will then decide whether or not to approve it at which point the tax adviser will be notified of their decision. If rejected, this can be appealed to an independent tribunal, after a formal internal review has been completed.
If the conditions for registration are met, HMRC must approve the registration. If they are not met solely because the firm or a relevant individual has an outstanding tax return or payment, HMRC can still approve the application if they consider it to be appropriate. These decisions will be based on pre-determined thresholds and circumstances, precise details of which are awaited.
At present we are also not aware of the expected timescale for HMRC to respond to registration applications, despite setting out the importance of this in our consultation submission.
The registration requirement provides HMRC with a range of monitoring and enforcement powers, and sanctions and penalties which can be imposed for non-compliance. The draft legislation also contains a range of safeguards, including appeal rights.
HMRC will be able to suspend a tax adviser's registration in certain circumstances, including if their behaviour does not meet ‘expected standards’ (more detail on this is also awaited which we also highlighted as an area of concern in our consultation submission).
What should tax advisers do now?
Preparations should begin now. Tax advisers should act as soon as possible to:
- Familiarise themselves with the draft legislation and monitor this for any changes. This may necessitate appointing a specific team of individuals within the firm who will be responsible for implementing the legislation and ensuring it is complied with both at the time of registration and in the future,
- Identify who their relevant individuals are and how many individuals the rules require them to include in their application,
- Determine their registration timeline now as this information is available from HMRC,
- Audit, check, and document whether or not the firm and all relevant individuals will meet the registration conditions and take remedial action where necessary, and
- Ensure that the risk of suspension/prohibition, including the impact of this on their clients and how this would be managed, is built into the firm’s contingency planning.
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