UITF40 to be suspended ?

The Law Society has called for a suspension of UITF40 in an effort to help certain of its members.   Whilst the Law Society's certainly has a case, their approach might well prove to be too parochial for it to be successful. 

The Law Society's reasons are that many of its members in high street practices are suffering from their significant dependency on the LSC (legal aid) for criminal and family work.  This is one of those rare instances where it is not diffiuclt to feel sympathetic towards solicitors because those affected here are not the big earners, and they are being screwed by the government who, having effed up just about everything else, has now turned its attention to publicly funded legal services with the result that not only are the pay rates are being cut but the recipients are also suffering delays in receiving payment.   

If the Law Society is successful in pleading its case, we see no reason why any relief would not be available to all taxpayers affected by UITF40.  To this end, it might yet prove to be a mistake that there was not a joint approach in conjunction with the accountancy bodies.  Whilst equivalent sized firms of accountants are not exposed to the LSC, it would have done no harm for one of the accountancy institutes to formulate a more general case for relief.  After all, UITF40 was introduced to counter firms advancing profits.  In the current climate, advancing profits is no longer a concern..  It is, rather, finding the profits in the first place which is now the only issue for many smaller professional practices.