NEWS

This roundup sets out the most important changes to HMRC manuals over the past week as curated by our editors.

The CIOT and the ATT have both welcomed the House of Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee report (published 28 January 2026) on the Government’s IHT reforms affecting unused pension funds and changes to agricultural and business property reliefs...

The Government has tabled a series of amendments for the Finance Bill 2026 Public Bill Committee (which began on 27 January 2026), with updated explanatory notes issued for the more significant changes: cl 13 (EMI): extends the EMI exercise period...

HMRC have told the CIOT and ICAEW that from 2026/27 it will remove employment expenses over £120 from PAYE codes in certain cases, including where the taxpayer has no current PAYE income, there has been a full-year employment gap, no self-assessment...

The UK-Peru Double Taxation Convention entered into force on 21 January 2026 (given effect in the UK by SI 2025/1299). It applies in the UK from 6 April 2026 for income tax and capital gains tax, 1 April 2026 for corporation tax, and 1 January 2027...

On 20 January 2026, the Welsh government published its final Budget for 2026/27. It confirms tax proposals including maintenance of the current Welsh rates of income tax, no changes to the current land transaction tax rates, and new landfill...

The Ministry of Justice’s consultation on an Interest on Lawyers’ Client Accounts Scheme (ILCA) has prompted strong criticism from across the legal and professional services sector, with warnings of higher costs for businesses, pressure on...

The CIOT has warned that proposed changes to NICs on salary sacrifice could lead some employers to withdraw salary sacrifice arrangements, reducing employees’ overall retirement savings. In a briefing note published on 23 January, the CIOT...

Analysis of newly released HMRC data suggests 2.6 million self-assessment taxpayers overpaid around £8.9bn last year, with the payments on account system cited as a key cause. Data obtained by UHY Hacker Young under FoI also points to errors in...

The CIOT has reminded agents that, from 1 October 2025, self-assessment reactivations can be requested via the Agent Dedicated Line (option 2, then SA reactivations). Other self-assessment queries cannot be handled via this route. ...