HLAS

On 21 July 2025, HMRC launched their Transformation Roadmap, which sets out ambitious plans for HMRC to become a digital-first organisation by 2030, with 90% of customer interactions taking place digitally. This compares to 76% as at today. HMRC will automate tax wherever possible and offer new digital self-serve options across a number of tax regimes. It is estimated that the plans will save HMRC £50 million a year, including by moving customer letters and reminders to a digital-first approach and reducing the reliance on paper correspondence by 2028/29. Paper post provision will remain for critical correspondence and for the digitally excluded. The [...]

HMRC are pushing ahead with the implementation of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax, set to commence from 6 April 2026. Legislation Day saw the publication of draft MTD legislation, which makes the following recently-announced changes to the planned regime: More individuals will be exempt from MTD – Ministers of religion, Lloyds underwriters, recipients of Blind Persons’ Allowance and donors of Power of Attorney. Certain kinds of income will be outside the scope of the MTD rules, namely Qualifying Care Income (e.g. foster care income) and the UK earnings of non-resident entertainers and sportspeople who have no other sources [...]

As announced at Autumn Budget 2024, the government has published draft legislation to reform Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) from 6 April 2026 to make them “fairer and more sustainable” In addition to existing nil-rate bands and exemptions, APR and BPR will continue, but a cap will be introduced that will restrict the 100% relief to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. The rate of relief will be 50% thereafter. Relief will also be reduced to 50% (with no £1m allowance) for quoted shares designated as “not listed” on the markets of [...]

New figures from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) show that for the first time in 15 years, more small businesses expect to shrink, close or sell up in the coming year than those planning to grow. It’s a significant shift - and one the FSB has called “a very dangerous situation” for the UK’s small business sector. This net-negative growth reading in the FSB’s Small Business Index underlines just how tough trading conditions remain for many firms, despite falling inflation. Among the issues that the FSB have identified that continue to put pressure on small businesses are: Late payments, [...]

The government has announced the revival of the Pensions Commission, twenty years after it helped bring in automatic enrolment. Its goal is to stop future pensioners from being worse off than those retiring today. New government analysis suggests some worrying trends: 45% of working-age adults are saving nothing into a pension 4 in 10 people are undersaving for retirement Self-employed workers, low earners and some ethnic minorities are most at risk of falling behind There’s a 48% gap in private pension wealth between men and women It’s estimated that people retiring in 2050 could see 8% less private pension income [...]

If your business sources products from online marketplaces - whether for resale, internal use or part of a service - you may soon benefit from tighter product safety rules. The newly passed Product Regulation and Metrology Act gives regulators more power to crack down on unsafe goods sold online. It’s part of the Government’s Plan for Change and aims to hold online platforms like Amazon, eBay and others to the same safety standards as high street retailers. The move follows rising concerns over dangerous products. As an example, there’s been an increase in safety incidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters, many [...]

If you're involved with a charity - whether you're on the board, manage the accounts, or provide support behind the scenes - you may have heard that there are some changes coming to the way charities report their finances. The biggest step in that process has been completed with the consultation into the new Charities Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) now closed. Over 140 stakeholders submitted their views, and these are now being analysed to help shape the final version of the guidance. So, what should charities be doing in the meantime? What Is the SORP? The SORP (Statement of [...]

On 21 July 2025, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) announced its Transformation Roadmap – a plan to modernise the UK’s tax and customs systems by 2030. HMRC have said that the aim of the Transformation Roadmap is to make the tax administration system more automated, more focused on self-service and better set up to get things right first time. The roadmap includes more than 50 IT projects, services and measures. Let’s see what some of these include. New PAYE service As part of the Transformation Roadmap, a new online PAYE service will be launched that’s designed to give all UK [...]

UK government borrowing was £20.7 billion for June, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - an increase of £6.6 billion compared to the same month last year. While the overall figure is broadly in line with forecasts for the year so far, the rise has added pressure on Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the Autumn Budget. Higher spending on public services, rising interest payments on debt, and weaker-than-expected tax receipts have contributed to the increase. What does this mean for taxpayers? Economists now widely expect that the Chancellor will need to find £15–25 billion later [...]

New guidance on using an agent to manage your business rates has been published by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Many business owners choose to made their own business rates, but others prefer the convenience of appointing an agent to help them. The VOA are keen to make sure that business owners exercise care in choosing an agent. They say that while the majority of business rates agents are reputable and provide a good service, there are a small minority that act in bad faith. The VOA’s new guidance encourages the following: Do your research Beware of big promises Understand [...]