Skip to content
LokalMatch
Get quotes

Tax Accountants

Tax Accountants: directory of firms

A tax accountant is hired for judgement rather than data entry. The questions are usually about how a transaction should be structured, whether a relief applies, how to unwind something that was done badly, or how to answer HMRC when it asks. Compliance filing may come with the job, but it is not the reason you engage one.

Browse tax accountants by city, and see what to check before you hire.

Find tax accountants by city

This kind of work is often limited to licensed or registered professionals. Ask for their licence or registration number before you share any details.

Directory only

LokalMatch doesn’t take requests for tax accountants in the UK and doesn’t pass your details to anyone. Firms are listed as a directory: compare them and contact the ones you choose directly. LokalMatch doesn’t recommend any firm.

Paid listings and paid requests aren’t switched on for this service in the UK.

On this page

Nobody has to be qualified to sell tax advice in the UK, which is why HMRC publishes a standard for agents that applies to everyone who acts professionally on another person's tax affairs, whether or not they belong to a professional body. It sets expectations under integrity, professional competence and due care, professional behaviour and tax planning, and it says arrangements must be lawful, based on a realistic view of the facts, and must not set out to achieve results contrary to the clear intention of Parliament.

Specialist credentials do exist. The Chartered Institute of Taxation awards the Chartered Tax Adviser qualification, and the Association of Taxation Technicians describes itself as the leading professional body for those providing UK tax compliance services and publishes a register of its anti-money-laundering supervised members. Many tax accountants also hold a chartered accountancy qualification alongside a tax one.

Areas of UK tax, and who tends to specialise in each

  • Owner-managed business tax: profit extraction, director remuneration, and the interaction between Corporation Tax and personal tax.
  • Capital taxes: capital gains on property and share disposals, and inheritance tax planning around a family business.
  • Employment taxes: benefits, expenses, termination payments and off-payroll working status.
  • Indirect tax: VAT on property, partial exemption, and cross-border supplies of goods and services.
  • Transaction tax: due diligence, share sales, reorganisations and clearances.
  • Disputes and disclosures: HMRC enquiries, voluntary disclosures and penalty negotiations.

The rules a paid tax adviser works under

HMRC's standard for agents applies to individuals and businesses, UK based or abroad, who act professionally on someone's tax affairs. It covers accountants, bookkeepers and legal professionals doing tax work. HMRC says it expects the standard to be met regardless of professional body membership, and notes that around 65% of agents belong to a body with its own ethics code.

Under professional competence and due care the standard asks agents to keep their tax knowledge current, to take care that their clients' returns are correct, and to keep contemporary records of what they advised and when. Under integrity it asks them to be straightforward and honest with HMRC and never to imply HMRC endorsement.

On tax planning the language is unusually plain. Arrangements must be lawful and based on a realistic assessment of the facts, and must not be designed to produce an outcome contrary to the clear intention of Parliament.

Agent authorisation: how an adviser gets to act for you

Authorisation is granted per tax, not once for everything. Form 64-8 covers Corporation Tax, PAYE, National Insurance, Self Assessment and VAT, and is signed, dated and posted to HMRC. Several services instead use the digital handshake, where the agent sends a link and you approve the authorisation yourself.

What the authorisation allows varies. For Self Assessment an authorised agent can view and change your details and submit returns for you. For VAT they can view, change and submit, and deal with HMRC in writing or by telephone. Narrower authorisations exist if you only want someone to answer HMRC's questions.

None of this requires you to hand over sign in credentials, and an adviser who asks for them is not following HMRC's standard.

How a tax advisory engagement usually runs

  • A scoping conversation to establish the facts, the timing and what has already been done.
  • Document gathering: prior returns, accounts, contracts, and correspondence with HMRC.
  • A written analysis setting out the options, the risks and the assumptions relied on.
  • Implementation, which may involve filings, elections, clearances or disclosures with fixed deadlines.
  • A file note recording what was advised and why, which matters if HMRC asks years later.

Warning signs in tax planning proposals

  • A fee quoted as a percentage of the tax saved, with no fee if the scheme fails.
  • A promise that HMRC will not find out, or that the arrangement is too small to be noticed.
  • Documents you are asked to sign but not to read, or to backdate.
  • An unwillingness to name the professional body or HMRC registration that supervises the firm.
  • Advice that only works if the facts are described differently from how they actually are.
  • Pressure to decide before a tax year end, with no time to get a second opinion.

Tax accountant or general accountant?

A general practice accountant handles the year's filing obligations and knows your business well. A tax specialist is engaged for a specific question where the amounts involved justify deeper expertise: a property disposal, a company sale, a demerger, an HMRC enquiry, a share scheme.

The two are not in competition. In a well-run arrangement the general accountant spots the issue, and the specialist is brought in with a defined brief and a defined fee. Good firms refer out rather than improvise, and being told "this is outside what we do" is a mark of competence.

For recurring, straightforward filing, a tax specialist is usually more expertise than the work needs.

Engagement letters, fee protection and who carries the risk

  • The engagement letter should say precisely which taxes, years and entities are in scope.
  • It should state what you must supply and by when, since late information is the usual cause of missed deadlines.
  • Professional indemnity insurance is a condition of licence for members of the main bodies; ask who insures the firm and to what level.
  • Fee protection cover pays the adviser's time in an HMRC enquiry; it does not pay the tax, interest or penalties.
  • Responsibility for the return stays with you, so build in time to read what is being filed.

Tax Accountants: frequently asked questions

Does a tax adviser have to be qualified in the UK?

No. There is no licence requirement to give tax advice. HMRC's standard for agents applies to everyone acting professionally on someone else's tax affairs regardless of membership, and the practical safeguards are a recognised qualification, a body with a public register, and money laundering supervision.

What does CTA or ATT after someone's name mean?

CTA is the Chartered Tax Adviser qualification awarded by the Chartered Institute of Taxation. ATT is the Association of Taxation Technicians, which describes itself as the leading professional body for those providing UK tax compliance services; an ATT member in practice offers UK taxation and accounting related services, and ATT publishes a register of members it supervises for anti-money laundering.

Can my adviser talk to HMRC without my permission?

No. They need authorisation first, either by form 64-8 or through the digital handshake, and the authorisation is specific to the taxes covered. A narrower written authorisation can let them answer HMRC's questions without gaining full access.

HMRC has opened an enquiry. Do I need a specialist?

Often yes, particularly if the enquiry covers more than one year, involves offshore matters, or hinges on whether behaviour was careless or deliberate, since that affects penalties. HMRC's standard expects agents to be straightforward and honest with it, and an adviser who suggests concealing something is a risk to you rather than a defence.

Is my adviser obliged to report me to anyone?

Agents work within the money laundering regime and, under HMRC's standard, are expected to report suspected tax fraud where client confidentiality permits it. That is a reason to be straight with your adviser from the outset, not a reason to hold things back.

Sources

  1. HMRC — The standard for agents
  2. GOV.UK — Authorising an agent to deal with your tax affairs
  3. Chartered Institute of Taxation
  4. Association of Taxation Technicians
  5. HMRC — Money laundering regulations: who needs to register

Written by the LokalMatch editorial team. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. How we write and check our guides

Find tax accountants by city

England

Show 173 cities

Northern Ireland

Show 7 cities

Scotland

Show 10 cities

Wales

Show 5 cities

What affects the fees tax accountants charge

Fees depend on the work involved and how the professional bills. We only publish fee ranges when they’re backed by real LokalMatch data or reliable sources. Until then, here’s what usually changes the fee:

  • Scope and complexity of the work
  • How the professional bills: hourly, flat fee or retainer
  • Experience and seniority of the person doing the work
  • Deadlines and how urgent the work is
  • Third-party costs such as filing, registration or government fees

How to compare tax accountants before you hire

  • Check that they are licensed or registered for this work where you live, on the regulator’s public register.
  • Look for experience with matters like yours, and ask who will actually handle your file.
  • Ask how they charge before any work starts, and get the terms in writing.
  • Compare two or three professionals before you decide.
  • Be wary of anyone who guarantees a particular outcome.

Questions to ask tax accountants before you hire

  • Are you licensed or registered for this work, and with which body?
  • Have you handled matters like mine before?
  • Who will do the work, and who will I deal with day to day?
  • How do you charge: hourly, a flat fee or a retainer?
  • What is included in your fee, and what costs extra?
  • Will you confirm the scope and fees in a written engagement letter?
  • Do you carry professional liability insurance?

Licences and registration

This kind of work is often limited to licensed or registered professionals, and the rules depend on where you are. Ask which body they’re registered with, and check their status on that body’s public register before you hire.

Guides about tax

Related professional services