This paper examines the activities of UK accountants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Its aim is to determine the nature of their work in relation to taxation, by looking chiefly at the contemporary evidence provided by The Accountant, the accountants' professional journal. First published in 1874, this journal provides information on tax and other activities at a time when accountants were establishing their credentials as a new profession. The paper considers issues surrounding income tax in this period, as the complexities associated with it provide the wider context and backdrop for accountants' activities. It then specifically considers why and how accountants met the increasing need for tax advice and claimed this work domain as part of their professional jurisdiction. The paper then goes on to consider the role of lawyers in taxation during the same period
