Earlier this year we highlighted a request from HMRC for agents to participate in phase two of testing the VAT Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) system in Northern Ireland, the system which allows business to report and pay VAT on imports of low value goods to consumers. HMRC continues to work on the phase of delivery of this which will allow agents to register and act on behalf of businesses. HMRC is still seeking agent volunteers to participate in testing during phase two. Read more about how you can get involved in this unique opportunity and email tax@charteredaccountants.ie if you would like to participate or require more information. 

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates, all of which you can read more about below, HMRC has recently reduced its interest rates for late and overpayments of taxes and duties, and a detailed update has been sent on winter fuel payments which confirms that the deadline for opting out of receiving this is in two weeks’ time on 15 September 2025. In the latest HMRC Agent Update, you can read about a wide range of areas, and, in July, HMRC began trialling the withdrawal of certain corporation tax reminder letters. In other news this week: The most recent HMRC Stakeholder Digests of 31 July 2025 and 26 August 2025 are available. Noteworthy in the July edition is the publication of HMRC’s 2024/25 annual accounts, and HMRC are holding the following webinars for employers in the next few weeks: payroll for directors: 2 September 2025, and changes to overseas workday relief: 16 September 2025. New HMRC interest rates HMRC’s interest rates on underpaid and overpaid taxes and duties were recently reduced after the Bank of England base rate was cut by 0.25 percent to 4 percent last month. HMRC has now updated its associated guidance which confirms that the new rates are 8 percent for late payment interest and 3 percent for repayment interest. The new rates took effect from the following dates: 18 August 2025 for corporation tax quarterly instalment payments, and 27 August 2025 for other payments of tax and duties. Winter fuel update The new winter fuel payment policy will apply from winter 2025/26. The Social Fund Winter Fuel Payment Regulations 2025 were laid before Parliament last month and come into force on 15 September 2025, the first day of the winter fuel payment qualifying week in 2025/26. These regulations revoke the 2024 regulations and restore winter fuel payments to all pensioner households in England and Wales from winter 2025/26. The rules in Northern Ireland are set out here and work in a similar manner. As previously announced, payments made to pensioners who are not in receipt of pension credit or another relevant means-tested benefit, and who have an annual income over £35,000, will be recovered by HMRC via the tax system. The provisions to achieve this are separate and will form part of the Finance Bill to be introduced after the next Budget, the date for which we expect to be announced in the next two weeks before the current parliamentary sitting goes into recess for conference season. Together, the regulations and the provisions in the Finance Bill will form the legislative basis for means testing the winter fuel payment. For pensioners in Pay As You Earn, HMRC will automatically collect the payment through a change to their tax code, unless they already file a Self-Assessment (SA) tax return. Changing the tax code will mean their winter fuel payment will be deducted from their income and paid to HMRC in monthly instalments across 2026/27, starting in April 2026. If they file a SA return online, HMRC will instead automatically include the payment on their SA return as part of their income, starting in 2025/26. If they file a paper SA, the individual will need to include the payment on their return themselves. There is no impact on 2024/25 returns. Pensioners who do not wish to receive a winter fuel payment can opt out of receiving an automatic payment. By opting out, those with an annual income over £35,000 will avoid having their payment recovered in full via the tax system at a later date. Opting out can be done by: completing an online form: https://submit.forms.service.gov.uk/form/7964/opt-out-of-winter-fuel-payment/29643, or calling the Winter Fuel Payment Centre helpline on 0800 731 0160. Those that wish to do so should opt out before 15 September 2025 to ensure that the opt-out can be processed in time before payments are made. Anyone who does not opt out before 15 September will automatically receive the payment. People who have opted out may choose to opt back in via the helpline. For the 2025/26 winter period, the final date for opting back in is 31 March 2026. The Government is aware of a winter fuel payment text scam and asks anyone who has received this to report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040. For more information on phishing and scams, go to www.gov.uk/report-suspicious-emails-websites-phishing. HMRC also has reporting routes for tax specific scams. HMRC will never contact anyone by text to claim winter fuel payments or to request personal information. If someone is unsure about a text claiming to be from HMRC, the advice is to forward this to 60599. Emails should be sent to phishing@hmrc.gov.uk. Tax scam phone calls should be reported on GOV.UK via www.gov.uk/find-hmrc-contacts/report-suspicious-hmrc-emails-texts-social-media-accounts-and-phone-calls. Latest Agent Update Agent Update: Issue 134 is available now. Get the latest guidance and information on: Finance Bill‌‌‌ 2025/26‌‌‌, Time to Pay for Simple Assessment debts, An update on using Import Control System 2 for goods movements by road or rail from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, Changes to overseas workday relief, and VAT registration: the effective date of registration. HMRC trial withdrawal of corporation tax letters In July 2025, HMRC began a new trial which means certain corporation tax (CT) return and payment reminder letters are no longer being sent to approximately 5 percent of companies with authorised agents. The affected reminder letters are the CT208 PR1 and CT208 PR2. The Institute has been discussing this with HMRC and has flagged the particular impact this is likely to have to have on busy season for CT, in particular for filing 31 December CT returns and 31 December and 31 March CT payment deadlines. We are also concerned with the impact that this will have on newly trading companies as often the correct first accounting period of trading is not reflected in HMRC’s records. Members are welcome to contact us to discuss the impact of this trial by emailing tax@charteredaccountants.ie. To be able to monitor the impact of this on CT debt, the trial will end in December 2025. However, HMRC has advised that if there is a substantial increase in CT debt during the trial period, it will be halted completely. Other statutory CT letters, including the Notice to file a Company Tax Return, will continue as normal. All new companies will also continue to receive information on CT filing and CT payment. HMRC are also trialling the removal of paper copies of other non-statutory CT letters. From June 2025, the following letters are no longer sent automatically: CT205/A return reminders for companies and agents, CT207 interest statement, CT209 payment receipt, CT603A agent list of issued notices to deliver Company Tax return, and CT608 instalment payment reminder. HMRC has advised that information on the ongoing trial was previously communicated in the following publications:  May Agent Update, June Employer Bulletin, and May Stakeholder Digest.

In this week’s post EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant in the post EU exit environment. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available as is the latest Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs team. HMRC has also sent an updated list of ICS2 ‘stop-words’ that when used in isolation in the goods description will cause entry summary declarations to be rejected and the shipment being placed on hold or prevented from entering Northern Ireland or the EU. ICS2 ‘stop-words’ Import Control System 2 (ICS2) is an advance cargo information system designed to improve security in the international transportation of goods. All Economic Operators that bring goods to or transit through the EU must declare safety and security data via ICS2, through the entry summary declaration. A list of stop-words has previously been publicly available, however the EU has recently updated this list. Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications This week’s miscellaneous guidance updates and publications are as follows: Analytical methods for determining the fat, starch and protein content (Tariff notice 16), Stuffed pastry (samosa)(Tariff notice 15), Maritime ports and wharves location codes for Data Element 5/23 of the Customs Declaration Service, Search the register of customs agents and express operators, Moving processed or repaired goods into free circulation or re-exporting them, Appendix 23 Exports: Declaration Category Data Sets, Notice to exporters 2025/18: compound settlement for breaches of export control, Appendix 24: Declaration Category Data Set, and Notices made under the Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018.  

Revenue is seeking tax agent feedback as part of its plans to update the Revenue Online Service (ROS) to better support end-users. In the initial phase Revenue will focus on enhancing the main dashboard, core navigation, and header functions within ROS. Updates to individual Revenue applications will continue separately and are not part of this phase. Tax agent feedback can be provided to Revenue by completing the short survey to better understand how ROS fits with the daily workflow of tax agents.

On 27 September 2025 taxpayers and agents will be unable to create or renew a ROS certificate due to essential maintenance by Revenue. Taxpayers and agents will still be able to access ROS services with existing ROS certificates during this period.

As part of a broader project to modernise its payment and banking processes, Revenue is updating its direct debit system.  Phase 1 of the project includes the cessation of the fixed direct debit (FDD) payment option, the expansion of the variable direct debit (VDD) for current VAT liabilities, and the introduction of a new Payment Hub on ROS. The new functionality for Phase 1 is now complete and is accessible via the ‘Payments and Refunds’ panel on the ROS home page. As a consequence of the cessation of the FDD option for VAT payments, VAT returns can no longer be filed on an annual basis. Revenue is contacting affected taxpayers, and their agents, as they approach the end of their annual VAT period to ensure a smooth transition to the VDD and revised filing requirements. All income taxpayers paying preliminary income tax by direct debit have been migrated by Revenue to the new direct debit facility on ROS. Revenue will shortly write to the relevant taxpayers, and their agents, to notify them of the new direct debit mandate number. Revenue has confirmed that no action is required by the taxpayer or their agent at this time. Revenue provided a note to the Institute setting out more information on Phase 1 and you can read that here.

In Irish news this week, the Budget 2026 Tax Strategy Group papers have been published, and the Department of Finance has published the Summer Economic Statement together with the revised National Development Plan. In UK news today, the Institute takes a closer look at last week’s ‘L-day’ announcements, and HMRC publishes its Transformation Roadmap. In International news, the European Commission has announced a public consultation on VAT rules for the travel and tourism sectors. Irish 1. Read about the annual papers published by the Tax Strategy Group in advance of Budget 2026. 2. The Government has recently published its Summer Economic Statement 2025 and the revised National Development Plan.   UK 3. Read about the key ‘L-day’ announcements by the UK Government including the launch of three technical consultations on related draft legislation. 4. HMRC has launched its Transformation Roadmap outlining the development of new services, including a new online service for all PAYE taxpayers. International 5. The European Commission has launched a public consultation to gather information aimed at modernising the VAT rules for the travel and tourism sectors. Keep up to date with all the latest Irish, UK, and international tax developments through Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Tax Newsletter. Subscribe to the Tax News by updating your preferences in MyAccount. You can also read this week’s post EU exit corner here.

In a Press Release launching their Transformation Roadmap, HMRC singled out for special mention a new online service for all PAYE taxpayers, which will make it simpler and easier to check and update their income, allowances, reliefs and expenses in future. This will be available via the Personal Tax Account or through the HMRC app. For a number of years, Chartered Accountants Ireland has been calling for a system like this, similar to the one already available for employees in Ireland via myAccount on ROS. The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury laid a Written Ministerial Statement on the roadmap. The roadmap sets out a wide range of new services which will be developed, including new services for agents, something which the Institute has been consistently lobbying for, for several years. Ultimately, HMRC’s ambition is to develop a tax administration where 90 percent of taxpayer interactions will be digital by 2030. As set out at the Spending Review last month, HMRC also has the objective of reducing the number of letters it sends by 75 percent by the same date. The roadmap therefore sets out in detail how HMRC plans to achieve these ambitious targets. The Institute has previously met with HMRC to discuss these targets, and met again last week to discuss the Transformation Roadmap[LD1] , with particular focus on the level of agent services which will be developed. Once again it would appear that a gap will start to widen between these and taxpayer services, which will be vastly improved, if the plan is implemented as intended. At the meeting, the group acknowledged the roadmap for its ambition and noted that the sound drafting. One important aspect that needs to be clarified over time will be timelines for implementation of the targets. HMRC noted that they plan on update the roadmap annually as the measures develop. An executive summary of the roadmap is also available.

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates, which you can read more about below, HMRC’s VAT Registration Sub-Group Forum has sent a list of questions with answers, and HMRC is calling for research participants to particate on a project looking at the impact of new technology on the tax advice market. We also report on how payment on account schedules are now accessible in VAT online accounts. In other news this week: The Adjudicator’s Office has published ‘How the Adjudicator's Office is performing against our customer service standard’, The latest HMRC performance data for the first quarter of the year is available: HMRC quarterly performance update: January to March 2025, HMRC monthly performance reports, and HMRC monthly performance report March 2025, 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 Check HMRC’s online services availability page for details of planned downtime and the online services affected. VAT Registration Sub-Group Forum: questions and answers HMRC’s VAT Registration Sub-Group forum has sent the below list of questions with answers which we have reproduced verbatim. The Institute is represented on this HMRC forum by a VAT specialist. “Question and answers Can the G-form have an upload facility added to – this will allow evidence to be uploaded at the time of declaration.   The online Error Correction Notification form has been optimised; it will now contain functionality to allow customers and Agents to upload additional documentation to support the error being reported.    Can the G-form be expanded to increase the text box size – this will allow more space to provide sufficient explanation   This suggestion has been accepted and implemented in the optimised form - The text box has been increased to 2,000 characters; this will allow additional information to be provided which is especially useful for complex corrections, in addition to the attachments.   Can we establish if repayment and payment ECNs are prioritised equally, are online ECNs prioritised above paper.   Repayment and payment error corrections are prioritised in date order, however if we are notified of an urgent case or financial hardship, we can expedite these cases.  If there are delays to the processing of error corrections due to system outages, performance issues etc we can, and have, prioritised repayment returns in the past.  Our performance has met our targets over a sustained period being supported by stable IT infrastructure   We wanted to establish if automation will speed up processing   We have carried out a review of our Error Correction process and we are looking to go into a period of discovery to improve the Digital offering in the back end, this should increase the average turnaround times even further.   When a customer makes an error correction payment at the time of submitting the declaration, can the payment be held and not [automatically] returned   We are in conversation with our IT partners to discuss the feasibility of this request. If it is feasible we will need to consider the change as part of wider changes we need to make to our systems. We will update in due course.   Can The Declaration Thresholds be reviewed as they have not been updated since 2008   We appreciate this point being raised again and will consider it as part of HMRC’s broader review of potential reform and modernisation of the tax system.” Research on the impact of new technology on the tax advice market: call for participants HMRC is pleased to invite you to contribute to a new research initiative led by Dr Sara Godfrey from HMRC’s Intermediaries Directorate. This project, part of a government-backed Innovation Fellowship in collaboration with Lancaster University, will explore how emerging technologies, particularly AI, automation, and digital accountancy platforms, are transforming the tax advice market. HMRC is seeking approximately 30 volunteers to take part in a confidential 45-minute interview, which can be conducted virtually or in person. Interviews will be scheduled flexibly during August, September and October 2025, and all responses will remain fully anonymous as part of Social Research standards. Your insights will play a valuable role in shaping future policy and strategy in this rapidly evolving area. If you're interested or would like to learn more, please contact customerengagementforums@hmrc.gov.uk. Please express your interest by Friday, 30 August 2025. Payment on account schedules accessible in VAT online account HMRC has made some improvements to VAT online accounts for payment on account taxpayers who can now view the details of their payments on account payment schedules. Paper notifications will still be sent. The new functions aim to reduce reliance on paper copies and allow taxpayers to check their upcoming instalment schedules and payments, and any balancing payment due dates, in one place. This also gives real time access to instalment changes following any increases in taxable turnover for payments on account purposes.

In this week’s post EU exit corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications relevant in the post EU exit environment. The most recent Trader Support Service bulletin is also available as is the most recently published Brexit and Beyond newsletter from the Northern Ireland Assembly EU Affairs team. The latest joint statement from the UK and EU Domestic Advisory Groups (DAG) has been published. The Institute is a member of the UK DAG. HMRC has also sent an email on moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and another email on entry summary declarations. And finally, the minutes of the latest Joint Customs Consultative Committee HMRC Forum, which the Institute is a member of, have been published together with summary slides of presentations covered in the meeting. Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications This week’s miscellaneous guidance updates and publications are as follows: External temporary storage facilities codes for Data Element 5/23 of the Customs Declaration Service, Short shipments at temporary storage locations, Additional Information (AI) Statement Codes for Data Element 2/2 of the Customs Declaration Service (CDS), Submitting an electronic administrative document or an electronic simplified administrative document for excise goods, The Customs (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2025, Report a problem using the Customs Declaration Service, Make an entry summary declaration using the Import Control System 2, Apply for authorisation for the UK Internal Market Scheme if you bring goods into Northern Ireland, Categorising goods for Internal Market Movements from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and Declare your goods to authorised use and completing authorised use.

We highlighted in Tax News on 14 July that the HMRC webinar on Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax which will take place on Tuesday 16 September from 1-2pm is open for booking. This webinar will be led by Sam Wood BSc ACA. Sam works with agents within HMRC’s Making Tax Digital programme and has a background in accounting and digital transformation. He is responsible for Cross Cutting Stakeholder Engagement, Policy and Strategy at HMRC and is a Chartered Accountant and a member of ICAEW with wide experience of Making Tax Digital from its inception. The Institute is also running a more detailed two-hour webinar, delivered by Tim Palmer, on Thursday 11 September which is also open for booking.

As covered in Tax News on 14 July, the second, and final, 2024/25 self-assessment payment on account for income tax and Class 4 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) is due for payment on or before midnight on Thursday 31 July 2025. Each payment on account is half of the previous year’s tax bill. Anyone who is self-employed is required to make two payments on account for 2024/25 unless: Their 2023/24 Self-Assessment tax bill was less than £1,000, or More than 80 percent of all the tax owed in 2023/24 was deducted at source, for example via PAYE. If a taxpayer knows that their tax bill for 2024/25 is going to be lower than that in 2023/24, a claim can be made to HMRC to reduce payments on account. Each payment on account made should be 50 percent of the person’s total income tax and Class 4 NICs liability for 2023/24. If the final tax liability in 2024/25 is greater than the total payments on account made, a balancing payment will be due on or before 31 January 2026.