We help people in the UK who cannot afford paid tax advisers, by providing them with information and one-to-one support through our helpline service. Our helpline staff are uniquely experienced in the tax problems that can affect people on a lower income, resolving simple and complex tax problems with care and understanding. We have three aims at our charity:
We support people who are on a lower income with their tax
We educate people about their tax obligations in the UK
We advocate for a fair tax system for people on a lower income
Our tax helpline service can put you in touch with a specialist tax adviser to support you with your tax problem.We can help you with:
We can help you understand the bits of the tax system that apply to you and ignore the 98% that doesn’t.
Get in touch with us via our helpline or contact form
Our helpline advisers will support you. A simple tax query could be solved in one call
If required, you will be connected with one of our expert tax advisers
Your adviser will work with you until your case is resolved with HMRC
Please note: We support people who are on a low income (under £20,000 a year or with significant debt) who cannot resolve their issue with HMRC on their own. We do not provide advice on Corporation Tax (Limited Companies), Tax Planning, Tax Credits, Benefits, Council Tax or non-UK tax issues.
Tax problems are not just for the wealthy. Anyone can struggle with their taxes, and those who are on a lower income suffer considerably if they receive high tax bills they do not understand, or if they overpay on tax.
TaxAid was formed on 7th December 1992, founded by David Brodie, a tax professional wo was concerned that people on low incomes were suffering significantly because they could not afford tax advice.
There was evidence that people were being made bankrupt unnecessarily on tax demands based on estimated figures, that people had been overpaying tax for years because they did not understand the rules, and that under-represented people did not know how to access their rights to appeal.
Valerie started at TaxAid on the helpline as an adviser, taking calls from people and working with them to resolve their tax problems. Seeing firsthand how important the charity is to every individual who phones in. Her career started as a Chartered Accountant before qualifying as a Chartered Tax Adviser and specialising in the tax issues relevant to High Net Worth individuals. She became Chief Executive Officer of TaxAid and Tax Help for Older People in 2019.
'We often hear from people who have a tax debt that they do not understand, that plays on their minds, keeping them awake at night, but who have no idea what to do next or where to turn.
Our service is here for those people, completely free and confidential tax advice to anyone who cannot afford paid support, that is the aim of our charity.’
Our tax team have a high level of specialist tax expertise in the areas of tax which affect people in poverty. We solve tax problems to support people on the helpline and to empower and educate people about their own tax position.
We are a small but impactful team, striving to support each other within the charity and support each person who calls our helpline. The people who need our help are vulnerable and anxious about their tax problem, and we approach each situation with care and understanding.
This begins with teamwork within the charity, but extends to our work alongside the wider tax community, corporations, the voluntary sector, and our close relationship with HMRC. We are always looking at new ways to work together to support and understand the people that we help.
