Updates on financial regulations and compliance requirements
Most UK firms know what they charge for Self Assessment. Fewer have calculated what it actually costs to deliver. When salary, utilisation and overhead are properly modelled, internal costs per return sit between £300 and £600. The margins are tighter than many assume.
Cottons Group partner Emma Reid cuts through the advisory talk. The problem isn't interest, it's capacity. If your team is stuck in rework and compliance deadlines, advisory becomes unpaid overtime nobody can scope properly.
Tax expert Rebecca Benneyworth says firms should test MTD with at least one client before 6 April 2026. She chairs HMRC's Digital Advisory Group and has been running MTD trials with her own practice clients. Her advice: understand the year-end filing process now, not in a panic later.
Nearly two years after the merged RDEC and ERIS schemes launched, firms are hitting real-world problems. Subcontractor claims, overseas costs, and EPW documentation are all getting harder to justify.
Most CPA firms patch last season's breakdowns and hope this year will be different. Then the first few weeks hit. Here's what actually matters when the work is layered, the deadlines are real, and the capacity isn't there.
Firms relying on bridging tools and spreadsheets to file VAT returns are in for a rude shock. MTD for Income Tax from April 2026 requires proper digital record keeping, not just a submission link.
RSM flags that Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2021/4, updated June 2024, is catching professionals who allocate profits through trusts. The guidance targets income splitting arrangements, with a 30 June 2027 deadline to transition to low-risk structures or face audits.
If your W-2 wages exceeded $150,000 in 2025, your catch-up contributions in 2026 must be Roth. No exceptions. Plans without Roth options will block catch-ups entirely for affected staff.
The IRS dropped Notice 2026-16 on 20 February, giving taxpayers interim rules for the new special depreciation allowance under the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. If you placed qualifying manufacturing, refining, chemical, or agricultural property into service after 4 July 2025, you can elect 100% depreciation. Comments due in 60 days.
The IRS confirmed on 23 February that final regulations for required minimum distributions will now apply no earlier than six months after Federal Register publication. Until then, taxpayers must use good-faith interpretation of SECURE 2.0 statutory provisions.
Ahead of the 3 March Spring Forecast, CIMA has written to Chancellor Rachel Reeves with six policy priorities aimed at stabilising tax settings and unlocking investment. The letter, sent 12 February, targets CFO pain points including Writing Down Allowance cuts and business rates reform.
A Kalamazoo County resident emptied his 401(k), IRA and bank accounts after a laptop pop-up led to a call with someone claiming to be an IRS agent. The scammer convinced him to transfer $1.05 million to a fake 'Federal IRS locker' to protect his assets from the 'black web'.