Check if you meet HMRC's conditions to register as a tax adviser

If you interact with HMRC about someone else’s tax affairs and get paid for it, you may be required to register with HMRC. This means you’ll need an agent services account if you do not already have one.

Your business will need to meet certain conditions when you register for an agent services account.

Some of the people who work for your business must also meet the conditions. These people are known as ‘relevant individuals’. You can find out more about relevant individuals and how to identify them in Mandatory Tax Adviser Registration manual.

Who these relevant individuals are depends on how many officers your business has. Officers include directors, partners and any equivalent roles (including in overseas companies).

You’ll need to provide information about relevant individuals when you register for an agent services account. This will include anyone who works for the business and plays a significant role in deciding how your business manages or organises its tax adviser activities, or who actually manages or organises these.

If your business has 5 officers or less, we’ll treat all of them as relevant individuals, even if they’re not all involved in providing tax services. You’ll need to tell us about all of them.

If your business has 6 or more officers, first identify those who actually make strategic or management decisions about your tax advice work. Do not include all officers by default.

In some cases, fewer than 5 officers will meet this definition. If this happens, you must choose additional officers so that you have at least 5 in total.

You can choose which officers to include. They do not have to be the most senior or responsible for day-to-day tax advice.

You must provide evidence that your business is supervised for anti-money laundering, either by HMRC or by one of the supervisory bodies. Examples of acceptable evidence include: