A record 737,891 taxpayers filed their 2025/26 self assessment returns in April, according to figures from HMRC. The tax authority said that 86,270 taxpayers submitted their return on the first possible day, which was Easter Monday. That made 6 April, the first day of the new tax year, the most popular date for filing. In… Read more…

Taxpayers who are required to use Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax from April 2026 should sign up now if they haven’t done so already, says the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). Taxpayers who had combined gross income from sole trades and property businesses of more than £50,000 for 2024/25… Read more…

The UK government’s formal commitment to legislation to stamp out late payments is an historic moment, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB says small firms have spent years battling a culture of poor payment practices by big businesses towards their smaller suppliers. The government’s plans for more stringent rules around prompt… Read more…

Families travelling this summer will benefit from free bus travel for children as part of the government’s efforts to help with the cost of living. The government is committing more than £100 million to fund the free fares scheme and also continuing to support bus services. Every child aged five to 15 in England will… Read more…

The government will contact thousands of young people about forgotten Child Trust Funds (CTFs) in a bid to reunite account holders with their accounts that are now worth £2,200 on average. CTFs were introduced by the government in 2005 and applied to children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011. The government is… Read more…

The government must take the chance to fix the UK’s broken business rates system, says the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The business group says anxiety about business rates rose to 41% in its Quarterly Economic Survey for the first quarter of 2026. This is the highest level since the BCC started asking the question in… Read more…

Decisive action is needed to tackle the ‘hidden threat’ of crime against businesses damaging growth, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). Theft, fraud, scams and cyber-attacks are increasingly affecting firms of all sizes and across all sectors, BCC research has found. The business group’s research shows that 42% of UK businesses experienced some form of crime in the past year. The data reveals larger firms are more vulnerable, increasing… Read more…

New company car advisory fuel rates have been published and took effect from 1 June 2026. The guidance states: ‘you can use the previous rates for up to one month from the date the new rates apply’. The rates only apply to employees using a company car. The advisory fuel rates for journeys undertaken on or… Read more…

There is less than a year to go before all employers must tax benefits-in-kind via the payroll, the Chartered Institute of Taxation has warned. Benefits-in-kind are non-cash benefits provided by employers to employees or directors. Common benefits include company cars, private medical insurance and gym membership. While the benefit is paid for by the employer… Read more…