NEWS

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. ...

HMRC have reported a rise in the number of FINs, and highlighted changes to the definition of ‘financial institution’ in the Common Reporting Standard. On 15 January 2026, HMRC published its fourth report on the use of FINs covering the period from...

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

Professional tax and accountancy bodies have issued new guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) in tax work, as the use of AI tools becomes more widespread across the profession. The guidance sets out how the Professional Conduct...

New guidelines on compliance expectations and practical methodologies to help with imported hybrid matches have been published by HMRC’s Agent Update issue 139, and include: clarifying key concepts such as payments, quasi-payments, reasonable to...

In Budget 2025, the Government revealed that there would be updates to voluntary NICs for time spent abroad. Starting April 2026 (for tax years 2026 to 2027 onward), voluntary Class 2 NICs for periods abroad will end. New Class 3 NIC applications for...

HMRC have released an important update to its Guidelines for Compliance (GfC7), expanding its guidance on transfer pricing risk with two new subparts: 2.2.8: value chain analysis; and 3.8: offshore procurement hubs. Announced in Agent Update issue...

Tax credit contributions made under the Scottish Landfill Communities Fund to an approved body will be removed from 1 April 2026 to coincide with the scheme being wound up. This is in line with the Scottish Government’s decision to close the fund to...