Welcome

The Institute is an educational charity and has a much wider brief than just the promotion of the interests of its Members.

The Institute works very hard to ensure that the qualification of Chartered Tax Adviser represents an assurance of high technical and professional standards, with the objective that consumers of tax advice prefer to use a CTA. We see this as initiating a virtuous circle, whereby membership of the Institute is increasingly perceived as essential by tax advisers and their employers.

As part of the wider picture, our Technical Committee co-ordinates the pro bono efforts of over 120 volunteers from the tax profession with the sole purpose of promoting better tax law and smoother operational procedures in its implementation. As intermediaries between tax authority and taxpayer, we are in an ideal position to appreciate the 'pinch points’ in the tax system.

To this end, the Institute’s members provide thousands of voluntary hours every year. The Technical Committee receives invitations to comment on Government papers and draft legislation and guidance on a regular basis. The CIOT considers all of them and responds to the vast majority. The CIOT also initiates proactive papers and requests for clarification and attends literally hundreds of meetings with representatives from the HM Revenue & Customs and HM Treasury. The Institute was also instrumental in the establishment of Working Together and continues to participate actively in this work with HMRC.

We feel that we have a great deal to offer Government because of our closeness to all sizes of business and all types of taxpayer. It is our objective to be the preferred tax consultation body for regulators and administrators. Legislation frequently appears in a significantly different light when seen from the point of view of the business trying to achieve its commercial objectives, or the pensioner trying to make sense of his obligations and entitlements.

It is in everyone’s interests to have well-constructed and workable tax legislation, and the Institute has a role to play as the catalyst of well-informed public debate. We provide briefing notes to MPs, but on an entirely, and strictly observed, apolitical basis. We take a particular interest in how tax law impacts on those on low incomes, who cannot afford professional advice, through the activities of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group. In addition to its technical work, the Group has created opportunities for tax professionals to contribute thousands of pro bono hours to support socially excluded groups in society.

Finally, we have a contribution to make to the success of the UK economy in an era of global tax competition. The CIOT is a member body representing the UK on the Confédération Fiscale Européenne, and has active links with the EC Commission and with the OECD.