Author Archives: Eliza Burke

Winter Fuel Payments and Child Benefit: check your tax adjustments Taxpayers completing their 2025–26 Self-Assessment returns should be aware that HMRC may include adjustments to recover Winter Fuel Payments and calculate tax due under the High Income Child Benefit Charge. These changes could result in an unexpected increase in the amount payable, particularly for pensioners […]

Employers have another important date approaching. A further group of changes introduced by the Employment Rights Act 2025 is expected to take effect from 30 October 2026, with some measures still subject to the remaining parliamentary processes. The changes cover several areas, so employers should consider whether their existing employment procedures and record keeping need […]

If you are a sole trader or landlord who should have joined Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in April but did not sign up, HMRC may now be doing it for you. From September 2026, HMRC began automatically signing up people whose records show qualifying self-employment and property income of more than £50,000 in […]

Companies House enforcement has started Companies House identity verification has moved from being something directors can leave on their “to do” list to an issue requiring immediate attention. On 17 September, the Insolvency Service announced the first successful prosecutions involving directors who had failed to comply with the new identity verification requirements. Three directors were […]

Households should see a modest reduction in their electricity costs from 1 October 2026, when VAT on qualifying domestic electricity supplies in Great Britain is temporarily reduced from 5% to 0%. When does the VAT reduction apply? The temporary zero rate will apply from 1 October 2026 until 31 March 2027. Other domestic fuels, including […]

Businesses benefiting from the temporary 5% VAT rate for children’s meals and family attractions need to be ready for the relief to end. The temporary reduced rate applies up to and including 1 September 2026. From 2 September, affected supplies will generally return to their normal VAT treatment, which in many cases means the standard […]