The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) is the leading professional body in the United Kingdom concerned solely with taxation. The CIOT deals with all aspects of direct and indirect taxation. Its primary purpose is to promote education in and the study of the administration and practice of taxation. One of its key aims is to achieve a better, more efficient, tax system for all affected by it - taxpayers, advisers and the authorities. The CIOT’s comments and recommendations on tax issues are made solely in order to achieve its aims: it is entirely apolitical in its work. The 18,000 members of the CIOT have the practising title of ‘Chartered Tax Adviser’. The Institute was established in 1930 and received its Royal Charter in 1994. It enjoys a high international standing in taxation affairs and is a UK member body on the Confédération Fiscale Européenne (CFE), the umbrella body for 150,000 tax advisers in Europe. The CIOT administers the specialist advanced international tax qualification, the Advanced Diploma in International Taxation - ADIT. Please see www.adit.org.uk for more information. As part of its charitable activities, the CIOT also sponsors the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group which works to improve and simplify the tax system so as to make it more responsive to the needs of those who cannot afford to pay for tax advice.