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Ask the experts: HMRC mandatory tax adviser registration

Residential conveyancers have questions. We've gone to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for answers. Here’s what we’ve learned about how to register as a tax adviser, including actions your firm should take to prepare.

27 Apr 2026

Less than 1 minute read

What does ‘interact’ mean?

The term ’interact’ is defined in section 223 of the Finance Act 2026. Its scope is exceptionally broad.

A person interacts with HMRC if they:

contact HMRC by telephone, post or email
send a message to HMRC through a website or internet portal
file a return, claim, notice or another document with HMRC (whether electronically or not)
communicate with HMRC in any other way

If your client is buying with a mortgage and you are acting for the buyer/borrower, as well as the lender, you are likely to be ‘interacting’ with HMRC.

What is a ‘tax adviser’?

The term ’tax adviser’ is defined in section 224 of the Finance Act 2026. The definition is deliberately broad.

It includes any firm or individual that, as part of the services they provide, helps others with their tax affairs by:

advising others in relation to tax
acting as an agent on behalf of others in relation to tax
providing assistance with any document likely to be relied on by HMRC to determine a client's tax position, even where tax is incidental to the wider service being provided

Filing a Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return on behalf of a client is sufficient to bring a firm within scope, even where no tax advice is being provided. It is incidental to conveyancing.

In-house lawyers do not need to register if they only deal with tax affairs within their own company group.

We have concerns about how registration would work in practice for in-house lawyers.

We have asked HMRC to address this in upcoming guidance.

How does the requirement to register apply to residential conveyancers?

The UK Finance Handbook partly determines the role of residential conveyancers.

The instructions in paragraphs 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6 oblige you to ‘interact’ with HMRC and therefore register.

There may be an exception for firms that outsource the filing of SDLT returns but this seems unlikely.

When does my firm need to register?

HMRC’s new digital registration system is expected to launch on 18 May 2026.

Registration starts the same day and will happen in phases.

The timing partly depends on whether you already have an agent services account with HMRC.

If you don’t have an agent services account, you will need to register from 18 May.

HMRC has information on how to create an agent services account if you wish to do so sooner. However, you won’t have access to the new digital system until 18 May.

If your firm has an existing agent services account, you won’t have to re-register.

If your firm deals with the Trust Registration Service, you will likely have an agent services account.

Although those with an existing agent services account won’t need to re-register, HMRC will check that your firm meets the new registration conditions.

HMRC will contact you through your agent services account to confirm when you will need to provide information to enable this check. This will be before the end of March 2027.

There is an additional registration phase if you have an existing Corporation Tax or Self-Assessment code linked to your business.

The registration programme is expected to run until April 2027.

How long do I have to register?

Firms will have three months to complete their registration.

Throughout the registration process, you can continue to communicate with HMRC on behalf of clients.

Does registration apply to firms or individual solicitors?

Registration mostly applies to firms.

If you are a sole trader, you will register as an individual.

You will need to name certain individuals within your firm when you register. HMRC refer to these as ‘relevant individuals.’

Who are the ‘relevant individuals’ at my firm?

While we are pressing HMRC to provide further guidance on who qualifies as a relevant individual, we know it will depend on the size of the firm.

If your firm has five or fewer directors, partners or equivalent, all of them will be treated as ‘relevant individuals.’

You will need to provide information about them when registering with HMRC.

If your firm has six or more directors, partners or equivalent, you will need to identify anyone who:

manages or organises tax adviser work
plays a significant role in managing or organising tax adviser work

If this is fewer than five people, you will need to nominate others to bring the total number to at least five.

HMRC has indicated it expects those with responsibility and authority within a firm to fall within scope and intends to interpret the rules in a ‘reasonable and proportionate’ way.

However, a question remains around whether, for example, the manager of a post completion team might fall into this category. We are seeking clarification from HMRC.

What are the requirements to be eligible to be registered?

You need to provide evidence to HMRC that your business is supervised for anti-money laundering.

Businesses and relevant individuals must not:

have any relevant outstanding tax returns or unpaid tax (without a payment plan)
be subject to a decision by HMRC refusing to deal with you
be subject to an anti-avoidance sanction or a stop notice
have any relevant, unspent convictions for fraud or tax offences
be formally insolvent
be suspended or permanently banned from registering with HMRC

Most firms should be able to meet these requirements. Many would otherwise constitute a breach of SRA regulation.

The issue of outstanding tax returns or unpaid tax may be more challenging depending on how HMRC defines and enforces these matters.

How will the registration process work?

HRMC is creating a short video to demonstrate the registration process. More information is expected before 18 May.

If your firm has previously registered with HMRC for an agent services account, you will not need to do so again.

Instead, HMRC will contact your firm via your existing account to:

ask for any additional information
confirm you comply with the new requirements, including in relation to ‘relevant individuals’

If your firm is not registered with HMRC, you will need to create an agent services account using its new digital registration system.

Registration is free.

What happens if you don’t register or breach the requirements of registration?

Failing to comply with mandatory tax adviser registration could have serious financial, operational and regulatory consequences.

For example, you may no longer be able to communicate with HMRC, putting your retainer at risk.

HMRC has assured us it will not limit access to online submission platforms to those who have registered as tax advisers.

However, HMRC intends to update the land transaction return to include a firm’s agent services account number.

Providing an agent services account number will be voluntary at first but will eventually become mandatory.

Could outsourcing or referring out responsibility for SDLT mean your firm doesn’t need to register?

Probably not. HMRC is unlikely to exempt your firm because you have outsourced or referred out the filing of SDLT returns.

Paying the SDLT to HMRC seems likely to come within the tax adviser definition – you would be “acting as an agent.”

We have asked HMRC to clarify its position.

What are the overarching issues to consider in relation to outsourcing the filing of the client’s SDLT return?

You should exercise caution and carefully consider the implications before deciding to outsource SDLT returns.

You may wish to retain control of this important part of the conveyancing process.

As a residential conveyancer, you are likely to retain ultimate responsibility for submitting SDLT returns regardless of whether you outsource the filing.

You must act in the best interests of your lay and lender clients.

This includes meeting your obligations under the UK Finance Handbook.

Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) members must also follow the National Conveyancing Protocol.

Another thing to consider is your professional indemnity insurance position.

Once these factors have been considered, outsourcing may seem less attractive or be ruled out entirely.

What kinds of outsourcing services are being offered?

Outsourcing services vary and not all involve the service provider filing all land transaction returns.

For example:

some offer an automated service to calculate the SDLT. You should exercise caution – can automated services provide the correct outcome for every situation?
others use an online complexity filter to identify cases that need specialist SDLT advice
some regulated SDLT specialists are willing to take on lay clients as their own clients directly to provide SDLT-only specialist advice. This type of ‘referring out’ seems to be attempting to relieve conveyancers of responsibility for SDLT work
most will offer to file the SDLT return

What should you consider if you want to outsource SDLT?

If you are considering outsourcing, you should investigate the following:

whether your firm would retain any residual liability for the outsourced work
the background of the provider – its financial position, filed accounts, length of time in business, track record and whether it is part of a substantial respectable business
whether the outsourcing firm is registered as a tax adviser with HMRC
the people behind the firm and their tax qualifications
the individuals who can give technical SDLT advice to clients – their names, qualifications, experience and who they are they regulated by
if the service provided is automated, whether it guarantees a correct tax calculation for every situation – and if so, whether that guarantee is reliable
the ratio of SDLT advisers to support staff such as marketing, sales and IT
whether their website displays a registered company name and address
what professional indemnity insurance they hold
whether their terms of business match the marketing promises
whether you would want to register even if you outsource, so you retain some control if the outsourcing firm can't perform

How can you establish whether clients need specialist SDLT advice?

Many firms use HMRC’s SDLT calculator to get an indication of the tax payable – both when quoting prospective clients and when submitting the return and paying the tax.

However, there are many circumstances which the SDTL calculator does not address. It's not easy to establish the cases that fall outside its remit.

HMRC have not provided any definitive set of questions that can establish whether specialist advice is required.

Our SDLT handbook is available for purchase and includes a client questionnaire for buyers.

The questionnaire can help you establish whether you can quantify the SDLT liability or your client needs specialist SDLT advice.

What should you do if complex SDLT issues arise?

If you think there may be complex SDLT issues that fall outside your retainer, you should recommend that your client take specialist SDLT advice.

Your firm may want to set its own standard for what constitutes authoritative external advice. For example, you may require the tax adviser to be regulated by an appropriate professional body.

You may also want to make clear to your client that you reserve the right to cease acting if, in your view, the advice:

does not relate properly to the situation
does not cover all the difficult matters
appears so bullish or aggressive that your firm would not be comfortable submitting a return on that basis

If the client declines to take appropriate specialist advice, you will need to consider whether you can still fulfil your obligations to your lay and lender clients.

If you continue to act, your engagement letter should make clear you are not responsible for the accuracy of the SDLT return. This is the client’s responsibility.

Firms should not submit a return which they know to be wrong.

If I am registered as a tax adviser with HMRC, does that affect whether I should give tax advice?

Providing tax advice is not a regulated activity under the Legal Services Act 2007. HMRC does not consider mandatory registration to be regulation.

Meeting the definition of a ‘tax adviser’ under part 7 of the Finance Act does not reflect your competency or authorise you to give tax advice.

Under the SRA’s Code of Conduct, solicitors must not take on work without having the necessary training and competence. This obligation will not change because of registering as a tax adviser with HMRC.

Once registered, residential conveyancers can continue to state in their engagement letter that they do not:

provide tax advice
assume responsibility for the client’s SDLT return. This remains the responsibility of the client

Firms with expertise in stamp duty land tax can continue advising on SDLT.

Why are HMRC requiring registration?

HMRC has said it wants to raise standards in the tax advice market and ensure that all ‘tax advisers’ who interact with it on behalf of clients meet minimum standards.

The aim is for HMRC to monitor and, where necessary, exclude those who are "objectively unable" to meet those standards.

Will a register of tax advisers be published by HMRC?

No. HMRC has confirmed to us it will not be publishing a register of tax advisers.

It is not clear whether it will be possible for anyone to be able to check with HMRC whether a firm is registered as a tax adviser; HMRC have been asked whether this is the case.

Will HMRC be publishing more guidance?

HMRC is expected to issue further guidance on a range of matters, including sanctions, before 18 May.

We have requested any future guidance include:

how to establish who the ‘relevant individuals’ are in a firm
the scope of ‘assisting with their tax affairs’
how suspension from registration will operate
whether HMRC’s settled view is that paying SDLT counts as ‘interacting’ with HMRC

Action list

Here are 10 actions you can take to prepare your firm for mandatory tax adviser registration:

Assess impacts on your firm
Establish whether your firm is already registered with HMRC through an agent services account
Identify the ‘relevant individuals’ and obtain their details. Some information will remain confidential between the individual and HMRC
Check the tax positions of the firm and the relevant individuals
Check that your firm and the relevant individuals meet the registration conditions
Check that your firm has a proper process for establishing matters which are complex for SDLT and need specialist advice
Review AML policies
Review governance
Review and update engagement letters – if appropriate make it clear that you are not a tax adviser and that the accuracy of the tax return is the client’s responsibility
Consider setting up a process for retainer arrangements to be regularly reviewed to ensure that registration is not broadening your retainer in relation to SDLT advice