AAT Public Affairs & Public Policy activities: May 2022

Every month AAT summarises some of the key Public Affairs & Public Policy activities undertaken on behalf of our members.

Below you will find some key highlights for May 2022.

If you would like any further information about any of these issues, please contact Phil Hall, AAT Head of Public Affairs & Public Policy via twitter or via email.

BEIS Select Committee

Adam Harper gave oral evidence to BEIS Select Committee inquiry into the government's Help to Grow schemes on 17 May 2022, setting out a number of AAT members concerns about the unnecessarily restrictive eligibility criteria for the schemes.

A video of the Parliamentary session is available on the parliamentlive.tv website.

R&D Tax Reliefs

Phil attended a small roundtable discussion on R&D Tax reliefs with experts from academia and law firms as well as tax professionals from R&D firms and gave a short presentation on international comparisons and AAT concerns about the effectiveness of existing policy in this area.

The event was organised by TaxWatch UK.

Tolley's Taxation Awards

AAT was shortlisted for Tolley's award for an “Outstanding Contribution to Taxation in 2021-22 by a Not-for-profit Organisation.”

This was for our “Accountable” campaign to address the problem of one third of the accountancy sector being unregulated, something AAT believes would best be resolved by requiring anyone giving paid-for tax or accountancy services to be a member of a relevant professional body.

AAT was narrowly defeated by Women in Tax, who we naturally congratulated for their great contribution to the world of tax over the past 12 months.

Inheritance Tax (IHT)

Phil met with a team of researchers from Demos to discuss AAT's views on Inheritance Tax to feed into their 18 month research project on the subject.

This provided an opportunity to explain AAT's long standing recommendation that IHT should be halved from 40% to 20% whilst simultaneously ending the vast majority of exemptions and reliefs.

Parliamentary engagement

Engagement with 14 Parliamentarians took place in May, relating to a range of issues including an Online Sales Tax, property rental income, apprenticeships and more.

Non-Parliamentary engagement

A record month for engagement with external stakeholders took place in May 2022, with more than 80 1-2-1 interactions with a wide range of stakeholders ranging from big four accountancy firms, magic circle law firms, FTSE listed companies and other professional bodies.

AAT consultations, calls for evidence & inquiry responses

A response to the Office for Tax Simplification call for evidence relating to the taxation or rental property income was made. This drew on AAT member survey data and previous responses but also make recommendations for a range of new changes including an increase in the rent-a-room relief tax free threshold from £7,500 per annum to £9,500 per annum.

This response, together with most of AAT's submissions are available on the AAT Policy page.

Other meetings, events and engagements

• Phil participated in the regular HMRC Virtual Communications Group (VCG).
• Adam Harper, stood in for Phil to represent AAT at the regular Trade Association Forum hosted by the Federation of Small Businesses.
• Adam also attended the regular Representative Bodies Steering Group (RBSG) with HMRC.
• Phil represented AAT members at the CBI Business Rates Working Group.
• Phil attended a Resolution Foundation event with former Chancellor George Osborne – watch the video recording.
• Phil went to the Parliamentary Apprenticeships Fair, meeting with Emma Hardy MP & Toby Perkins MP to discuss apprenticeships policy and met KPMG apprentices who were studying/had studied AAT qualifications.
• Phil attended the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting on Corporate Social Responsibility who met to discuss social mobility. Phil was able to outline some of AAT's work in this area to a range of Parliamentarians and businesses whilst also hearing from a small number of organisations, including PwC and Exeter University, about their work in this area.
• Phil attended the Bank of England quarterly MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) briefing.

If you would like more information about any of the above, public affairs activities in general, previous copies of the monthly round-up or think Phil might be able to help your work in any way, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Keep up to date with AAT's Public Affairs activities on Twitter at: @PhilHall2021.