Hardman Lecture 2026

Event information

We are pleased to announce that Bill Dodwell has agreed to give the Hardman Lecture on 29 June starting at 6pm in the Great Hall, Chartered Accountants’ Hall. The title of Bill’s lecture will be The role of tax simplification in closing the tax gap.

Bill is one of the most well-known and respected members of the tax community. He is a currently a Non-Executive Director at HM Revenue and Customs. Prior to that he was Tax Director of the Office of Tax Simplification and Head of Tax Policy at Deloitte UK. Bill is a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser and has served with distinction in many roles including as President of the Chartered Institute of Taxation. Bill is currently a member of the ICAEW Tax Faculty’s Tax Policy and Reputation Committee and also the CIOT’s Tax Policy and Oversight Committee.

Since the closure of the Office of Tax Simplification in 2023, the UK tax system has continued to become yet more complicated: the recently enacted Finance Act 2026 is one of the longest Finance Acts seen in recent years and has added a further 543 pages of often highly complicated provisions to an already overburdened tax system. In his lecture, Bill aims to share his extensive knowledge and insights of the work of the Office of Tax Simplification and will examine the role of tax simplification and how it could be used effectively to support one of the government’s objectives for HMRC: to close the tax gap. 

About the speaker

Bill Dodwell, Non-Executive Director, HM Revenue and Customs He was Tax Director of the Office of Tax Simplification, having previously worked in the OTS as a Senior Policy Adviser. Prior to that he was head of tax policy at Deloitte. He has law degrees from King’s College London and Queens’ College Cambridge and is a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser. Bill is a former president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and has chaired their technical committee. He is currently editor-in-chief of the CIOT’s Tax Adviser magazine and website. Bill was a member of the GAAR Advisory Panel from 2018 to 2024. He has represented Deloitte and the CIOT at the Public Accounts Committee, the Treasury Select Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.

CPD hours

ICAEW's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Regulations require a minimum number of hours and an ethics requirement. Attending this event could contribute up to 2hrs 30mins of verifiable CPD, providing you can demonstrate that the content is relevant to your role.

A copy of the event booking confirmation email is accepted as evidence of verifiable CPD. Click here to use ICAEW’s self-assessment tool to help you work out how much CPD you will need to fulfil each year.

Costs

There is no charge to attend this event.

ICAEW members and non-members are welcome to join. This event is organised by the Tax Faculty. Please click here to join online.