Is TaxScouts legit?

We’re glad you asked. This is a question that comes up a lot with our support team. 

There are so many online scams in the financial sphere that our spectacularly well-priced tax return service might seem too good to be true. But it’s not. 

Self assessments are needlessly complicated. This is what we’re tackling with our TaxScouts platform. We don’t believe in charging our customers over the odds for what should be a simple, straight-forward process. We charge a fair amount for our services and focus on bringing together accounting expertise and real life human interaction.

How does TaxScouts pricing work?

Our pricing is so low because we leave all the heavy, time-consuming admin tasks to the tech that backs our service. 

This gives our accountants more time to spend actually accounting and answering any questions that you might have. It also means that you’re not getting charged extra for general administration.

A question that we’re often asked is whether our pricing includes VAT.  The answer is yes. All of our pricing is all-inclusive.

Who are the TaxScouts accountants?

Did you know that anyone in the UK can describe themselves as an accountant – whether or not they have formal training or professional qualifications?

To be a professional, qualified accountant, you have to pass stringent exams that allow you to join a professional institute. As a qualified professional, you’ll also need indemnity insurance that covers both you and your clients, as well as have your practices governed by the institute that you’re part of. 

You can rest assured that all of our accountants are qualified practitioners and are regulated and certified by each of the major UK accounting bodies.

How do you access my tax data?

The technical answer to this is that we have access to HMRC’s Self Assessment API which allows our accountants to pre-populate from HMRC’s records when pulling together your tax return. But we’re not about technical jargon. In simpler terms, our accredited accountants basically request access to your tax records to act on your behalf. And they ask your permission before doing this.

Our data is all encrypted in Microsoft Azure data centres and we never share your personal information with third parties, in line with the GDPR. So we know what you’re thinking. What the heck does that mean? In short, your tax data is only accessible to your accountant and those working with you directly.

And what about payments?

When it comes to processing payments, we use Stripe, a PCI-compliant service provider. Basically, they’re a big deal in the world of online payments. Your security and privacy are our priorities.