ATT Welcome: ATT’s growing influence

I am obviously biased, but I see the importance of the ATT growing. Throughout March, numerous media outlets contacted the ATT in relation to the forthcoming introduction of MTD. I am not a great social media devotee myself, but even I spotted numerous references to the Association. I heard Emma Rawson, our Director of Public Policy, on Money Box Live on Radio Four being the voice of reason in the run-up to MTD, against a HMRC representative who perhaps did not inspire confidence when responding to listeners’ questions about the new regime. Emma is usually very calm in her media presentations, but did draw the line on BBC Three Counties Radio (Beds, Herts and Bucks) when she was introduced as somebody from ‘HM Revenue and Customs’. That was going too far.

It was lovely to see that all the work Emma has done on MTD has been recognised. At the recent Tolley’s Taxation Awards, Emma received an award for Outstanding Contribution to Taxation in 2025/26 by an Individual, which could not have been more deserved.

As well as Emma winning an award, we were delighted to see the ATT Technical Team shortlisted for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Taxation by a Not-for-Profit Organisation’, an award we last won in 2023. Unfortunately, on the night we were not the winners, but we send our congratulations to Tax Aid on its success in winning the award.

Apart from the headline appearances, our technical team works hard behind the scenes making representations on behalf of our members and taxpayers to highlight tax problem areas and offer practical solutions. This falls squarely within our charitable objective to promote the study of the administration and practice of taxation.

I was delighted last month to attend the joint CIOT/ATT reception in Edinburgh, where we were able to engage with the Scottish tax community and use the opportunity to showcase the work of the ATT. Supporting Emma, we have six technical officers. Two of these, Chris Campbell and Senga Prior, are based in Scotland, and this has led to the ATT being heavily involved in the devolved Scottish taxation system. Tax devolution remains a major Scottish issue and continues to diverge from the UK system. This work includes a contribution to the review of land and buildings transaction tax and the new Scottish building safety levy. We have also briefed the UK Parliament on the implications for Scotland of changes in the rate of property income. We have also engaged with careers projects at schools and universities across Scotland.

As ever, I was made to feel very welcome by everybody I spoke to, and there was generous appreciation for the work we do.

I would once again urge you to consider whether you could become more involved in the ATT yourself. Whether it is being involved in technical matters or helping on a sub-committee of the Association or a Branch Committee, we are always keen to talk to potential volunteers. You do not have to be a ‘tax expert’ to volunteer. If that was the case, I would have disappeared a long time ago.

This is my last column for Tax Adviser as, following the AGM in July, I will no longer be Deputy President. That privilege will go to Ele Theochari, our current Vice President, who takes over from me.

The new team is featured on page 62, where you can see that Richard Freeman will be our Vice-President. Richard’s unusual position for the ATT is that he works for HMRC, the first of our officers to do so. Some of you may be surprised that we have members working for HMRC, but our dedicated Branch for HMRC members is one of our most successful within the organisation and we look forward to Richard’s continued contribution after many years on Council.

At the recent meeting of Council, I had the honour of being chosen to be the 2026/27 President to take effect from the 2026 AGM. This follows on from Graham Batty, who will have served as President for two different terms and will be a hard act to follow. There is a caveat to this, in that at the forthcoming AGM, I am ‘retiring by rotation’ and am standing for re-election to Council. Whilst Council appoints the officers, it is quite right that it is the members who elect Council.

Thank you for reading my articles and sincere thanks to those who have been in touch throughout the year regarding some of the points I have written about.

Until next time… and Ele’s contribution.