Technical Newsdesk: February 2026

I joined the CIOT in November 2025, after 18 years in practice at BDO, mostrecently as a director heading up the Liverpool tax team. I am a corporate tax specialist by background and have spent much of my career working on M&A transactions, which required astrong understanding of the breadth of tax issues affecting businesses and shareholders. Most transactions presented at least one unexpected tax issue that had to be addressed, often emerging late in the process. This high-pressure work was challenging but helped me to develop the important skill of explaining complex tax issues in simple terms – somethingI will be able to draw on in this new role.

I was eager for a change and something new to get my teeth stuck into. Even in my short time at CIOT, the new role is ticking all the boxes. From a tax policy standpoint, it is an exciting and challenging time to join. One of my first tasks involved supporting our brilliant technical officers with navigating an Autumn Budget packed with new measures to analyse. It was great to see the team in action on the day, as we issued several press releases summarising the announcements and, in some cases, highlighting the impact we had in shaping them.

Next came the draft legislation in the Finance (No. 2) Bill, and the hard work continued as we prepared briefings for the Bill’s passage through parliament over December and January.

I expect things to remain busy as we move through what feels like a significant moment for the tax profession. This is due not only to the various ‘raising standards’ measures included within the Finance (No.2) Bill, but also as HMRC moves to modernise the tax system through the implementation of the transformation roadmap.

I hope to draw on my extensive experience of working in practice to help our members understand the changes, articulate the difficulties and highlight where tax policy or administration could go further towards achieving a more efficient, less complex tax system. I look forward to speaking to as many volunteers and members as possible over the coming months.

As part of Ellen Milner’s Public Policy Directorate, my role includes managing and coordinating the tax technical team and supporting the Head of Tax Technical, Victoria Todd, in her strategic work. One thing that has stood out in these first few months is the volume and pace of engagement with policymakers. This makes it more important than ever that we prioritise our technical work, whilst leveraging the valuable experience of our committees to have the greatest impact.

In the meantime, my key takeaways from the first few months include feeling privileged to be working at the cutting edge of tax policy to advance our charitable aim of improving the tax system – what a unique opportunity. Another is seeing that our efforts can influence change – I have already seen examples of measures in the Autumn Budget based on CIOT representations (in some cases from years earlier!). While major reforms may be rare, each incremental step brings us closer to a simpler tax system, and that is satisfying.

Lauren Fletcher
CIOT Tax Technical Senior Manager
[email protected]