Advisers seek simpler tax reporting systems

According to new research from tax software provider Financial Software Ltd (FSL), the majority of advisers want platforms to include capital gains tax (CGT) reports as part of their tax packs, with 94% of advisers expressing this desire.

This demand is driven by the need to manage rising client volumes, and CGT calculators are now the fourth most selected ‘must have’ feature in advisers’ platform due diligence.

The CGT calculators sit just behind the self-invested personal pension (SIPP) and whole-of-market fund range features in terms of importance.

Despite this rise in demand, roughly 60% of advisers say they aren’t confident that the platforms they use accurately reflect their clients’ CGT positions.

CGT receipts reached record levels in 2025-26, according to Government data, and FSL expects this issue to become increasingly significant.

FSL managing director Michael Edwards said: “With more individuals drawn into scope for CGT, tax planning has moved centre stage – it’s no longer a peripheral issue affecting only high-net-worth clients.

Edwards noted that advice firms have been contacting FSL directly for help because they are clearly frustrated with CGT reporting across platforms, viewing it as either lacking or inconsistent.

Edwards added: “With shrinking allowances and frozen income tax thresholds, advisers are reworking financial plans to try and make greater use of tax-efficient structures for their clients.

This demands accurate data and robust modelling tools from the platforms they use, and platforms that have the capacity to provide this data and reporting properly are the ones advisers will choose to work with.

In response to these figures, Greg Moss, chartered financial planner and founder of Eleven.2 Financial Planning, explained that tax has become one of the biggest sources of client queries and that CGT is “right at the centre of it as more of our clients are pulled into scope”.

Moss noted that the information needed to report accurately already sits with the platforms, it shouldn’t take hours of manual reconciliation on their side to piece it together.

Giving advisers CGT data in the same straightforward way they already get dividend and interest information would save real time and let them spend more of it on the advice their clients come to them for.

For advisers, having access to accurate and reliable CGT data is essential to providing effective tax planning and advice to their clients, and it’s an area where platforms can make a significant difference.

They can make this difference by providing accurate data and robust modelling tools.