This week’s miscellaneous updates – 7 April 2026

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates which you can read more about below, HMRC has advised us that from April 2026 employment expenses and gift aid will be removed from the tax codes of some taxpayers if HMRC’s data shows that they are unlikely to be accurate or relevant.

In other news this week:

• In a recent Agent Update, HMRC has published tips for making a valid claim for overpayment relief,
• The Tax Law Review Committee of the Institute of Fiscal Studies has published Tax and disability in the UK: review of trusts and other savings options which examines the existing disability trust regime in the UK for putting aside savings in respect of eligible disabled people,

• The latest schedule of HMRC Talking Points live and recorded webinars for tax agents are available for booking. Spaces are limited, so take a look now and save your place, and finally,
• Check HMRC’s online services availability page for details of planned downtime and the online services affected.

Removal of employment expenses and gift aid from tax codes

From April 2026, HMRC has begun to remove employment expenses and gift aid from the tax codes of some taxpayers if HMRC data indicates that including these in the taxpayer’s tax code is likely to be inaccurate or irrelevant.

HMRC has advised us that employment expenses of over £120 are being removed from the person’s tax code from 2026/27 if at least one of the following criteria is met: 

• The person has no current pay as you earn (PAYE) income,
• There has been an employment gap of a full tax year since employment expenses were claimed,
• No self-assessment (SA) tax returns have been filed since 2021/22 where there are indicators that the expense should have been resubmitted via self-assessment, and
• The employment expenses included within the tax code are greater than those included in their 2022/23 SA tax return. 

Higher rate gift aid relief will be removed from the taxpayer’s tax code where: 

• the same amount of relief has been included in their tax code for at least three tax years, and
• no SA tax returns have been filed for at least three years.   

HMRC says that any taxpayers who believe they are incorrectly impacted by these changes should submit a claim via the usual processes to ensure they still claim the tax relief they are entitled to.