Legislation update
The National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. The Act legislates for the changes to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) announced at the Autumn Statement 2024, including
- increasing the rate at which secondary class 1 NICs are paid on earnings above the secondary threshold;
- reducing the amount of the secondary threshold; and
- increasing the amount of the employment allowance.
The Non-Domestic Rating (Multipliers and Private Schools) Act 2025 also received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. It
- introduces powers to create new lower multipliers for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties and higher multipliers for the high value properties; and
- removes the eligibility of private schools that are charities for charitable business rates relief.
For further information on the changes to employers’ NICs, see the articles 940,000 employers to pay more NIC in 2025/26 | ICAEW and Five payroll changes to look out for | ICAEW.
New MTD guidance and software
HMRC has published guidance and a video on YouTube to help agents with the process of signing-up clients to Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax. HMRC has also taken the opportunity to refresh some of its MTD income tax guidance, including its step-by-step guidance for individuals and for agents.
Separately, Forbes MTD has been added to HMRC’s list of software that works with MTD for income tax.
Read the latest on MTD income tax.
Employers operating in special tax sites
New requirements to report workplace postcodes apply from 6 April 2025 for employers operating in a designated special tax site who wish to claim secondary class 1 NIC) relief. Special tax sites are often referred to as freeport tax sites or investment zone tax sites. HMRC has updated its guidance for the change in the rules for claiming NICs relief.
New HMRC VAT manual
HMRC has published the VAT reverse charge for building and construction services manual. HMRC says that the manual is intended to supplement the guidance set out in Check when you must use the VAT domestic reverse charge for building and construction services and the VAT domestic reverse charge technical guide, which HMRC says should be read first.
Latest news for insolvency practitioners
HMRC has published the following insolvency practitioner bulletins:
- bulletin 2 (2025), which updates practitioners on a change to enforcement and insolvency services telephone numbers from 11 April 2025; and
- bulletin 3 (2025), which explains why there have been delays to HMRC’s employer and construction industry scheme services and what practitioners need to do.
International tax round-up
CFE Tax Advisers Europe has published its latest collection of tax top 5 developments. This includes:
- an update on the recent session of the United Nations committee of experts on international cooperation in tax matters; and
- a summary of the 2024 update of the OECD’s investment tax incentives database which captures developments between 2022 and 2024 across 70 economies.
Tax Faculty
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