One minute with Caroline Turnbull-Hall, Master of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers.
What’s keeping you busy at work?
Since leaving one of the Big 4, I have been enjoying portfolio life. I spend three days a week at the ICAEW as a senior regulatory policy adviser in the Regulation & Conduct team. I am also a member of HMRC’s Professional Standards Committee and the Tax Law Review Committee, as well as DBIST’s Regulatory Policy Committee, and the Architects Registration Board. On St Matthew’s Day this year (the patron saint of tax collectors), I was installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers. Each week brings different regulatory issues and, whilst they are not all tax-related, tax is still very much a part of my working life.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
Be prepared to fail, be prepared to ask questions, and build your network.
Whilst no one likes to fail, you learn most from when things don’t go according to plan – if tax was easy, everyone would be doing it! Be brave and ask those questions that you think might be silly ones – I guarantee someone else will be grateful you asked. Finally, building relationships across the tax profession, whether in practice, HMRC or academia, is both rewarding and will benefit you both personally and professionally. Joining the Tax Advisers Company helped me build relationships with others in the profession who I may not otherwise have met.
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
Having been on secondment to the Office of Tax Simplification in its very early days, simplification would be my first ask. Otherwise, I would like to see the Government rethink its recently announced approach to consultation on tax changes. Stakeholder engagement is important at all stages of policy development, bringing practical and commercial insight that can help to prevent unintended consequences and ensure a proportionate and well-functioning tax system.
Why have you chosen ‘trust and tax’ as the theme of your year as Master of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers?
Trust between all aspects of the ecosystem is vital in tax. Taxpayers trust HMRC to administer the tax system fairly, and the Government to spend tax revenue wisely. Taxpayers must also be able to trust their advisers, and HMRC must trust both advisers and taxpayers. Whilst there are undoubtedly some unscrupulous advisers, most are compliant and adhere to the rules. Greater trust should help reduce the burden on the compliant majority of measures aimed at the non-compliant minority.
When I started working, people still referred to ‘my word is my bond’ signifying trust and integrity in business. Over my time in the profession, I have seen the relationship between tax advisers and HMRC develop from a more adversarial relationship to increased collaboration. There are of course limits to collaboration as respective views of the ‘correct amount of tax’ can differ. That apart, there is more that advisers and HMRC have in common than that which divides them – particularly a desire for a clear, workable and understandable tax system that operates proportionately and equitably.
From your work in regulatory policy, what lesson should those designing tax rules take on board?
Clarity, the use of plain English and interoperability with other parts of the legislative framework. And consulting with stakeholders to develop tax rules collaboratively through consultation.
You might not know this about me but...
I am a keen cook and have an extensive collection of cookery books – 3,000 at the last count. I am especially keen on making jam and marmalade, and I am a regular entrant in the World Marmalade Awards. Having won four silver awards, I continue to learn from my mistakes as I aim for an elusive gold award.
One minute with Caroline Turnbull-Hall, Master of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers.
What’s keeping you busy at work?
Since leaving one of the Big 4, I have been enjoying portfolio life. I spend three days a week at the ICAEW as a senior regulatory policy adviser in the Regulation & Conduct team. I am also a member of HMRC’s Professional Standards Committee and the Tax Law Review Committee, as well as DBIST’s Regulatory Policy Committee, and the Architects Registration Board. On St Matthew’s Day this year (the patron saint of tax collectors), I was installed as Master of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers. Each week brings different regulatory issues and, whilst they are not all tax-related, tax is still very much a part of my working life.
What do you know now that you wish you’d known at the start of your career?
Be prepared to fail, be prepared to ask questions, and build your network.
Whilst no one likes to fail, you learn most from when things don’t go according to plan – if tax was easy, everyone would be doing it! Be brave and ask those questions that you think might be silly ones – I guarantee someone else will be grateful you asked. Finally, building relationships across the tax profession, whether in practice, HMRC or academia, is both rewarding and will benefit you both personally and professionally. Joining the Tax Advisers Company helped me build relationships with others in the profession who I may not otherwise have met.
If you could make one change to tax, what would it be?
Having been on secondment to the Office of Tax Simplification in its very early days, simplification would be my first ask. Otherwise, I would like to see the Government rethink its recently announced approach to consultation on tax changes. Stakeholder engagement is important at all stages of policy development, bringing practical and commercial insight that can help to prevent unintended consequences and ensure a proportionate and well-functioning tax system.
Why have you chosen ‘trust and tax’ as the theme of your year as Master of the Worshipful Company of Tax Advisers?
Trust between all aspects of the ecosystem is vital in tax. Taxpayers trust HMRC to administer the tax system fairly, and the Government to spend tax revenue wisely. Taxpayers must also be able to trust their advisers, and HMRC must trust both advisers and taxpayers. Whilst there are undoubtedly some unscrupulous advisers, most are compliant and adhere to the rules. Greater trust should help reduce the burden on the compliant majority of measures aimed at the non-compliant minority.
When I started working, people still referred to ‘my word is my bond’ signifying trust and integrity in business. Over my time in the profession, I have seen the relationship between tax advisers and HMRC develop from a more adversarial relationship to increased collaboration. There are of course limits to collaboration as respective views of the ‘correct amount of tax’ can differ. That apart, there is more that advisers and HMRC have in common than that which divides them – particularly a desire for a clear, workable and understandable tax system that operates proportionately and equitably.
From your work in regulatory policy, what lesson should those designing tax rules take on board?
Clarity, the use of plain English and interoperability with other parts of the legislative framework. And consulting with stakeholders to develop tax rules collaboratively through consultation.
You might not know this about me but...
I am a keen cook and have an extensive collection of cookery books – 3,000 at the last count. I am especially keen on making jam and marmalade, and I am a regular entrant in the World Marmalade Awards. Having won four silver awards, I continue to learn from my mistakes as I aim for an elusive gold award.
