The latest UK tax tidbits features guidance across a wide range of areas. Check if a QR code on a letter you've received from HMRC is genuine, Check the recognised overseas pension schemes notification list, Named tax avoidance schemes, promoters, enablers and suppliers, Claiming Theatre Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, Claiming High-end Television Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, Creative industry tax reliefs for Corporation Tax, Creative industry tax reliefs for Corporation Tax, Claiming Children’s Television Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, Claiming Audio-Visual Expenditure Credits for Corporation Tax, Claiming Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, Claiming Video Games Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, Claiming Video Games Expenditure Credits for Corporation Tax, Claiming Animation Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, Claiming Film Tax Relief for Corporation Tax, HMRC email updates, videos and webinars for Self-Assessment, Work out pay from an umbrella company, CWG2: further guide to PAYE and National Insurance contributions, Pension schemes: report of relevant benefit crystallisation events or transferring relieved relevant non-UK scheme assets (APSS 252), Apply for Home Responsibilities Protection, HMRC email updates, videos and webinars about creative industries reliefs and expenditure credits, Check if a business is registered for money laundering supervision, Courier deliveries to HMRC: PO box and BX postcodes, Bereavement and deceased estate: enquiries, Check genuine HMRC contact that uses more than one communication method, How to complete your Stamp Duty Land Tax SDLT1 paper return, Advisory fuel rates, and Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief.  

In this week’s cross-border trading corner, we bring you the latest guidance updates and publications. 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 is also seeking the assistance of small business owners to help shape the future of the new Trader Support Service. Research sessions: new Trader Support Service (TSS) HMRC is seeking small business owners across the UK to participate in research which aims to make the new TSS as efficient and user-friendly as possible. As recommended by Chartered Accountants Ireland, the TSS will become a permanent service providing support for businesses that move goods in or out of Northern Ireland. The service will also help businesses navigate changes to import and export policy. Business owners can sign up for the research sessions online. Miscellaneous guidance updates and publications This week’s miscellaneous guidance updates and publications are as follows: Community and Common Transit UK offices list, Customs Declaration Service error codes, Classifying toys and games for import and export, Notice to exporters 2026/04: transmission issues between LITE/SPIRE and CDS, Making an import declaration in your records, Moving sheepmeat, poultry and beef to Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU, Report exports that arrived or left a UK port that were not notified in CDS, Report and manage your allowance for Customs Duty waiver claims: service availability and issues, Customs Importer and Exporter Population: 2025, Customs Technical Handbooks, Customs Supervised Export overview, Customs Supervised Export, Designated Export Place, and Designated Export Place overview.  

In this week’s detailed miscellaneous updates which you can read more about below, the National Audit Office has published its latest tax focused report, ‘Taxing Large Businesses’, and HMRC has published a consultation on modernising and standardising company tax returns. In other news this week: Ahead of mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind (BIKs) from April 2027, employers who have not previously payrolled BIKs who would like to do so from 2026/27 have until 5 April 2026 to register with HMRC, Members of the House of Lords recently concluded report stage of the National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill, HMRC has published a page collating all the explanatory notes and tax information and impact notes for Government amendments in the report stage of the latest Finance Bill which was debated by the House of Commons Public Bill Committee last week,  From 1 April 2026, businesses wanting to use the VAT import one stop shop scheme will be able to register via an agent, The latest schedule of HMRC Talking Points live and recorded webinars for tax agents is 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. National Audit Office report ‘Taxing Large Businesses’ The National Audit Office (NAO) has published its latest tax focused report, ‘Taxing Large Businesses’. The report examines whether HMRC’s approach to large business tax compliance is delivering value for money and covers: the taxes paid by large businesses, HMRC’s approach to working with large businesses, and the effectiveness of HMRC’s approach. In arriving at its conclusions, the NAO’s work was designed to test the effectiveness and productivity of HMRC’s approach, and it also focused on the work of HMRC’s large business directorate. However, the report does not  examine in detail how each of the tax regimes affecting large businesses operate, nor the rules determining how much each business should pay. It also has not examined the amount of tax paid by individual businesses, or whether these amounts are correct. The report concludes that there is little doubt that HMRC’s compliance work with large businesses offers good value for money. £337 billion in taxes was collected from large businesses in 2024/25, including those taxes that large businesses pay directly and those they pay on behalf of their employees and customers. The collection of £15.8 billion in additional taxes by HMRC’s large business directorate brought in £95 for every £1 spent on staff pay, four times more than what HMRC achieves across all taxpayers, which represents a good return on investment. The NAO also found that large businesses carry particularly significant tax risks, hence HMRC’s enhanced focus on them through a separate directorate makes sense. However, the size of the large business tax gap relative to revenue is low. Large businesses also rate their experience of dealing with HMRC highly compared to other taxpayer groups. The NAO’s report director has summarised its findings in a video which can be found on the report’s overview page. HMRC consults on modernising and standardising company tax returns HMRC recently opened the consultation ‘Modernising and standardising company tax returns’ which was first announced at the 2025 Autumn Budget last November.  The consultation seeks views on: the proposed implementation timescales and enforcement options for prescribing the format, content and data tagging of Corporation Tax computations, and mandatory online filing of amended company tax returns. The consultation sets out exemptions that would apply to mandatory online filing of amendments and seeks views on whether any additional exemptions should be considered. It also asks whether, for practical reasons, mandation should commence later than 1 April 2027. HMRC invites views on this consultation no later than 2 June 2026. The following consultation was also recently opened ‘Extend Notification of Uncertain Tax Treatment regime’ and closes on 4 June 2026.

HMRC regularly publishes information on additions to the lists of territories that have qualifying income inclusion rules and qualifying domestic top-up taxes for the purpose of the UK’s Pillar Two Multinational Top-up Tax. These have recently been updated as set out below. The full list of territories is included in the Multinational Top-up Tax and Domestic Top-up Tax manual. The latest update was last month  when Hong Kong and Qatar were added to all three lists and Bahrain was added to lists 1.2 (qualifying domestic top-up taxes) and 1.3 (accredited qualifying domestic top-up taxes).

In just three weeks’ time, Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax kicks off. As a result, HMRC has sent an email rounding up the latest news which we have set out below, in addition to some other updates. Together with the other Professional Bodies, the Institute is participating in a new Professional Body led forum which is escalating issues on MTD for Income Tax directly to HMRC. Members are encouraged to share queries with the Institute which can then be raised with HMRC directly via this forum. You can also visit our MTD for Income Tax hub for guidance and assistance. And finally, later this week the MTD for Income Tax service, which allows agents to sign up clients, will be closed for maintenance from 5pm on Friday 20 March 2026 until 1pm next Tuesday 24 March 2026. Penalties Updated guidance on late submission and payment penalties has now been published by HMRC. Late submission penalties use a points system so that a financial penalty is only charged where deadlines are repeatedly missed and the late payment penalties are based on the time taken to pay the tax due. According to HMRC, these changes support the introduction of MTD for Income Tax for voluntary and mandated taxpayers ahead of the extension of these new penalty rules to all individual Income Tax Self-Assessment taxpayers from April 2027. Exemptions HMRC continues to receive applications for exemption from MTD for Income Tax. The following updated guidance pages explain more about this process:  Find out if you can get an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: this now contains the full list of exemptions, and Apply for an exemption from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: this fully explains the process of applying for exemptions if one is not automatically available.  HMRC has also advised that if a taxpayer or agent writes to HMRC to request an exemption, you should use one of the following subject titles on your letter to avoid delays:  ‘Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — digitally excluded application’ if applying for a digitally excluded exemption, or ‘Making Tax Digital for Income Tax — exemption application’ if applying for any other exemption.  In recent months HMRC has also iterated the exemptions guidance to provide clarity on the other exemptions and deferrals that are in place for 2026/27.  Based on some of the applications received to date, HMRC has asked us to highlight the following: The guidance states ‘if you have an agent, friend or family member applying for exemption on your behalf, the exemption will still be based on your personal circumstances’. Whilst agents can make the application based on their client’s circumstances, the exemption will only be available for that one client, the agent cannot then apply this exemption to themselves or other clients each of whom must apply for an exemption separately, and The guidance states that HMRC will not accept an application for an exemption if the only reason for applying is one of the following:  you previously filed a paper return, or you are unfamiliar with accountancy software, or you have a small number of digital records to create each tax year, or it will take extra time or cost for you to sign up to and use MTD for Income Tax. The guidance is designed to offer clear and comprehensive detail on exemptions and will continue to  be iterated and updated where necessary.   The Agent Dedicated Line   HMRC’s advisers on the Agent Dedicated Line are available to assist agents with queries on MTD for Income Tax. Agents will now hear the following recorded message:  ‘Making Tax Digital for Income Tax is a new way for sole traders and landlords to report their income and expenses to HMRC. From April 2026, sole traders and landlords must use it if their income from self-employment and property combined is over £50,000. To get started, go to GOV.UK and search MTD for Income Tax Agent Step by Step.’ There will then be an option to press 3 to access HMRC’s dedicated MTD team. Agents can also contact HMRC via agent webchat to discuss an MTD query. If the query is considered too complex to discuss over webchat, the agent will be offered a callback.  On Wednesday 4 March, HMRC also activated a new text message service for agents contacting HMRC by mobile phone. If an agent contacts HMRC via mobile, the system now recognises their number and then provides them with an option to receive a single SMS with a link directing them to the MTD for Income Tax agent toolkit and outreach support service. Software choices design page HMRC will also be launching an updated software choices page in the coming weeks. The page will reflect HMRC’s latest thinking on how to enhance the agent and client journey, whilst improving clarity for users, and ensuring the information presented is consistent and easy to navigate. This will include:    a list of all available software to be viewed, the ability for users to search  for a specific software product and check if it is compatible,  an agent journey, and a randomised list of software. Mandation letters to taxpayers Readers may recall that in November 2025 HMRC began sending MTD for Income Tax taxpayer mandation letters to those who had filed their 2024/25 tax return by 1 August 2025. HMRC is now sending letters based on 2024/25 returns filed after 1 August 2025 to those that it believes will be mandated to use MTD for Income Tax from 6 April 2026. The letters have been sent in batches as follows: Batch 1 contained letters for those who filed their 2024/25 tax return between 1 September 2025 and 30 November 2025; these letters were issued last month, and Batch 2 is expected to begin dispatching from the middle of this month for those who filed their 2024/25 tax return between 1 December 2025 and 31 January 2026. Each batch of letters is being sent over a 2-week period. Like the letters sent in November 2025, each letter will advise the taxpayer that based upon the latest data held by HMRC, they will be required to use MTD for Income Tax from April 2026.  

All EU Member States were required to transpose two separate Directives related to VAT measures into national law by 31 December 2024. Spain is the only Member State that has not done so. As a result, the Commission is to refer Spain to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) seeking the imposition of financial sanctions.

Revenue has reorganised its guidance on social welfare benefits.  The general guidance on the tax treatment of certain benefits payable under the Social Welfare Acts has been updated to include the information previously included in the guidance on the tax treatment of the Carer’s Support Grant and in the guidance on Disability Allowance and Disabled Person’s Rehabilitation Allowance. The guidance on the Disability Allowance and Disabled Person’s Rehabilitation Allowance has been archived as the remainder of the contents of this manual in relation to Disabled Person’s Rehabilitation Allowance is no longer relevant

Revenue has updated its guidance on the market capitalisation stamp duty exemption applying to the transfers of stocks and marketable securities introduced in Finance Act 2025. The updated guidance outlines the circumstance in which Revenue will share details of valid notifications with central securities depositories.

Revenue has updated its guidance on the Special Assignee Relief Programme (SARP) to reflect Finance Act 2025 changes. These changes included the extension of the relief for a further five years to 31 December 2030 and introducing, from 1 January 2026, a requirement for first time claimants to have a minimum annual salary of €125,000. A new paragraph 2.3 has been added to the guidance providing an overview of the deadlines for employer certification for the purposes of the relief. Finance Act 2025 provided that an employee will qualify for relief where the employer certification is made between 90 and 180 days after the employee’s arrival in the State. However, in these cases, the relief will not apply in the first year of entitlement and will instead begin the following year, for a maximum of four consecutive tax years. The manual includes the following updates: Paragraph 7 (Thresholds) has been updated to reflect the various employment income thresholds that apply to SARP from 2026 to 2030. Paragraph 16.2 has been updated to reflect the revised annual employer return filing deadline of 30 June which applies from 2026 onwards. Appendix 1 has been updated to include examples of the various changes applying to SARP from 1 January 2026.  

Revenue has updated section two of its guidance on the emergency income tax and universal social charge regulations to include an introductory paragraph outlining the income tax emergency basis. Information has also been provided on addressing a situation where an individual has a PPSN but is not registered for PAYE.  

Revenue has updated its guidance on the Foreign Earnings Deduction to reflect the Finance Act 2025 amendment removing the requirement that a ‘qualifying day’ must be one of at least three consecutive days in a relevant country. The guidance provides additional detail on the ‘reasonable requirement test,’ particularly on how time spent in a relevant jurisdiction mainly for personal reasons affects the relief. The guidance has also been refreshed as follows: Paragraph two has been updated to bring together the key definitions underpinning the relief and to add a table of ‘relevant states’. The examples have been revised and combined in the appendix.

The Central Statistics Office has issued the Quarterly National Accounts and the International Accounts for the last quarter of 2025. The accounts show that although seasonally adjusted  GDP fell by 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025, GDP grew by 12.3 percent in 2025.  Modified Domestic Demand, a broad measure of underlying domestic activity that covers personal, government, and investment spending rose by 1 percent in the quarter and by 4.9 percent in the year. Personal spending on goods and services, which is seen as a key measure of domestic economic activity, grew by 0.9 percent in Q4 2025 and was up 2.9 percent in the year. Overall, the multinational-dominated sector grew by 25.1 percent in 2025, with domestic sectors up by 0.9 percent. The Balance of Payments current account recorded a surplus of €12.8 billion in transactions with the rest of the world in Q4 2025. Commenting on the figures, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Simon Harris said: “Today’s figures confirm that, despite external headwinds, the domestic economy grew strongly last year, with Modified Domestic Demand expanding by almost 5 per cent for the year as a whole. “While the headline figures may somewhat overstate the economy’s underlying growth, I am encouraged that consumer spending grew by a solid 3 per cent last year. This reflects rising real incomes and the strength of our labour market, with a record 2.83 million people in employment at the end of 2025”.