Let’s clarify an important point before we go any further. When we reference ‘specialist tax advisers’ we do NOT mean accountants in general practice who also give tax advice.
We consider tax specialists to be those accountants, solicitors, barristers and ex-HMRC personnel who focus their client time and work on one or more areas of tax. Tax practitioners who would be recognised as such by fellow tax specialists.

The only people who seem to struggle with this distinction are some accountants who enjoy tax work but whose tax expertise is more limited than they are are willing to acknowledge.

Many independent tax specialists previously worked for large accountancy firms or for tax advisory boutiques.

Running your own practice can be tough especially if you are not a natural networker.

The big questions are typically:

  1. How do you generate all of the leads you want, to do the work you enjoy, for the type of clients who are willing to pay you what your advice is worth?
  2. How to establish a stream of relevant enquiries and avoid being distracted by people who just want help with their tax returns etc?

Adding your profile to our website may be at least part of the solution.

A message for independent tax advisers from our Chair, Mark Lee.

“Many years ago I ran the ‘tax support for professionals’ team at WJB Chiltern. Hundreds of accountancy firms came to Chiltern for help and advice each year – typically when their clients had specific tax related issues, challenges and problems.
My experiences at Chiltern were what led me to start the Tax Advice Network in 2007. I wanted to make specialist tax advice more accessible to accountants and to remove the overheads and employment costs that were built into Chiltern’s rates.
Better yet, our website boosts our members’ profiles and promotes them more actively to more accountants than most can do themselves. And, because we have a high ranking, longstanding website we are also found by the public and business people who know they need more tax help than they can get from their accountant”.