Accountants have ears

Professionally qualified accountants are invariably honest. They have to comply with:

• their professional bodies' code of ethics;
• a guide to professional conduct; and
• the anti-money laundering (AML) rules.

Amongst many other onerous obligations these AML rules oblige accountants to report various things to the National Criminal Intelligence Service.

So, for example, your accountant is obliged by law to make 'Money laundering' reports if he/she has reason to believe that you have deliberately falsified claims for tax relief or refused to disclose all of your taxable income.

If you think you may have done something wrong in the past, your accountant will try to convince you to put things straight. If you don't agree then he/she will be obliged to make a report. Accountants who are found to have omitted to do this can face stiff fines or a prison sentence.

The Government is currently considering whether to ask HMRC (Revenue & Customs - the taxman) to check up on unqualified accountants to ensure that they too are complying with the AML rules.