Finding free or paid tax advice

TaxAid 

TaxAid gives free, expert and confidential tax advice to people on low incomes across the UK, regardless of whether they are employed, self-employed or retired.

TaxAid can help with all manner of problems including:

• P800 problems (including ‘employer error’ cases)
• Late filing penalties (including for tax returns that should simply be withdrawn) and determinations/special relief
• Preparing tax returns for those in low-paid self-employment, including in the Construction Industry Scheme
• State pension/tax code issues
• Tax on bereavement
• Worldwide disclosure/foreign income reporting (particularly foreign pensions)

More generally they can: 

• explain what HMRC’s letters mean
• help you understand what you owe (or don’t owe)
• support you with managing tax debt
• guide you through returns, appeals and other tax issues
• speak to HMRC on your behalf if you’re struggling to manage things alone

They normally expect you to have attempted to sort the issue out with HMRC yourself before contacting them.

TaxAid helps people on low incomes (usually under £30,500) and/or with difficult personal circumstances that make finding tax help difficult. You can find out more about their eligibility criteria on their website. If you’re not sure if you qualify for their help, please contact them. 

When you call, TaxAid advisers will ask you about your yearly income, any debts or savings you may have, and any difficult personal circumstances, hardships or issues that are affecting you. Some of these questions may feel intrusive but it is important for the adviser to be able to determine whether you meet their criteria, so they can try and help you with your tax problem. 

Most tax issues can be talked through over the phone or by email. Advisers may guide you through what to do or contact HMRC on your behalf.

You can call the helpline on 0345 120 3779 or use the website contact form: I need help with tax - TaxAid.

They do not provide help or advice on corporation tax/VAT, tax planning, tax credits, benefits, council tax or non-UK tax issues. 

Help from a tax professional on a paid basis

TaxAid and/or friends and family cannot help everyone. And no matter how much we try and help people through our guidance, in many instances (particularly where an issue is complex or has several strands), there can be no substitute for having a tax professional act on your behalf, even if it means having to pay. It may not be as costly as you think.

A tax professional may be an accountant (who specialises in general financial matters, usually including some tax) or a tax adviser (who specialises in tax, and maybe even a particular area of tax). Both accountants and tax advisers are often happy to undertake basic tax compliance work for individuals, even on a one-off basis. You may also hear tax professionals referred to as agents, particularly by HMRC, because they act on your behalf.

As a first step, you should ask your friends/family for local recommendations. If this doesn’t work, look on the internet. Many accountants or tax advisers in practice on their own have websites – you should check that any adviser is a member of a professional tax or accountancy body (they may have a badge on display). Most advisers will have an ‘about us’ page on their websites which will tell you about their background, experience and qualifications. They may also have testimonials given by their current or previous clients. 

A word about regulation

The tax profession is currently unregulated, meaning that anyone can technically set themselves up as or call themselves a tax adviser – regardless of their qualifications or experience. This has led to concerns about poor advice and misconduct within parts of the sector. 

However, from the 2026/27 tax year, new requirements will be introduced for all tax advisers who wish to interact with HMRC on behalf of their clients. These rules will require advisers to meet certain minimum standards before they can register for an agent account and use HMRC’s services on your behalf. 

As set out on GOV.UK, these standards include requirements such as having no outstanding tax debts, and being considered a person of good standing. The aim of these changes is to improve standards across the tax advice sector and help protect taxpayers from poor or dishonest advice. 

However, the new rules do not currently assess an adviser’s technical tax knowledge or qualifications. Taxpayers should therefore still take care when choosing a tax adviser and consider whether they belong to a recognised professional tax or accountancy body like the Chartered Institute of Taxation or The Association of Taxation Technicians. 

A professional body can provide several important safeguards that go beyond the basic HMRC standards:

• Technical competence - Members must usually hold recognised qualifications and demonstrate a strong level of technical tax knowledge before they are admitted.
• Continuing professional development (CPD) - Members are required to keep their knowledge up to date through ongoing training, which is important because tax law changes frequently.
• Professional and ethical standards - Professional bodies require members to follow a formal code of ethics and professional conduct, helping ensure advice is given responsibly and in the client’s best interests.
• Oversight and discipline - If something goes wrong, professional bodies have complaints and disciplinary procedures. Members can be investigated, sanctioned, or expelled if they fail to meet standards.
• Professional indemnity insurance - Many bodies require members to hold insurance, which can offer protection to clients if an error results in financial loss.

How to find a professional tax adviser

You can find a professional Chartered Tax Adviser or a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians by using the Find a member tools. 

To use the tool, select ‘I’m looking for tax advice’, your rough location (optional), and the area of tax that you need help with in the drop-down box (for example, Expatriate Tax). If you are not sure, you should select ‘All’.

Some ATTs/CTAs that you might find using the tool are employed by tax or accountancy firms and are not able to take on their own clients, but many of them are in practice on their own account.

The tool lists phone numbers and email addresses and sometimes website addresses. It is usually possible to spot those able to help you, as they will often have a business name that includes their own name for example: Joe Bloggs, Joe Bloggs Taxes Ltd, [email protected], www.bloggstax.com.

Some practical considerations

When you make contact, it is a good idea to ask about the adviser’s charges and whether you will have to pay anything for an initial discussion about your requirements. Many advisers will offer a short call or meeting at no charge to discuss your requirements, although they should not give you any specific advice before taking you on as a client.

Some advisers will only provide online services, however if you prefer to talk to someone face to face, many will happily arrange to meet you, for example at your home or their place of work.

There are also networks of tax and accountancy franchises in towns all over the UK and many of the individual offices will be run by ATTs/CTAs. Do not be put off if their signage indicates that they help solely businesses because many also help individuals. Again, you should check that they are a member of a relevant professional tax or accountancy body.

If you want to verify that an adviser you have found is a member of the Association of Taxation Technicians or Chartered Institute of Taxation – you can do this using the tool. Select ‘I’m looking for a member’ rather than ‘I’m looking for tax advice’.

We can’t recommend any particular adviser or provider, but the information here should at least give you a starting point to your further research. What we will say however, is that you should be very wary of using tax refund companies. While it is absolutely fine to use one, some tax refund companies are not reputable and might charge you a high fee for their service and/or cause you other problems. 

If you do decide to have a professional work on your behalf, they might provide you with an engagement letter. This is a letter which acts as a formal contract between you and the adviser and sets out the scope of their services and on what basis they will charge you. Read this letter carefully before signing up to their services.