Articles for accountants
What is changing in advice, tax and regulation, and what it means for the clients in your files.
What is changing in advice, tax and regulation, and what it means for the clients in your files.
HMRC suspects wealthy taxpayers underpaid £392 million of inheritance tax in the year to 31 March 2026, up 14%. How HMRC checks estates, and what an accountant can see in the file before a death.
Read article · 21 September 2026 · 9 min read
The FCA's targeted support regime started in April 2026 and providers report take-up. Suggestions go to groups of customers from the data a provider holds, which does not include a client's balance sheet.
Read article · 6 August 2026 · 9 min read
94.1% of advisers surveyed want CGT reports in platform tax packs, and about 60% do not trust the CGT figures they get. The accountant files the return built on them.
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For deaths on or after 6 April 2027 unused pensions count in the estate for inheritance tax, with no business property relief, no agricultural relief and no instalment option on the pension part.
Read article · 7 min read
England's care means test stayed at £23,250 for a sixteenth year in February 2026. A return approved by an attorney is the first sign a practice has that a client is paying for care.
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EGR Wealth Limited, an FCA-authorised investment manager, entered administration on 24 August 2026. What an accountancy firm needs on file when a firm it introduced clients to fails.
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FCA research of 27 August 2026 found four in five less experienced young investors have used AI for investing help, and 44% believe AI-generated financial information is regulated.
Read article · 8 min read
HMRC's register holds 835,000 trusts and estates. From 6 April 2027 unused pension funds enter the estate for inheritance tax, and the firm that registered the trust holds the client's file.
Read article · 7 min read
What an Altro partnership changes in a year-end meeting, what your staff can say to a client, what one client relationship carries in fees, and what the partnership does not do.
Read article · 7 min read
An accountancy firm describes what is in the accounts and asks the client one question. The Equity & General financial planner gives the regulated advice.
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Vanguard research found 59% of advisers surveyed are likely to offer simplified advice. A narrower service asks the client fewer questions, and the company's facts sit with the accountant.
Read article · 8 min read
Two accountancy groups have set up jointly branded advice ventures with the same advice group in 2026. What each structure asks of a practice and how to judge the fit.
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HMRC is sending about 1.8 million Simple Assessment letters for 2025 to 2026. Where the letter is for bank interest, the client holds cash in their own name, outside any tax wrapper.
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The National Insurance exemption on salary-sacrificed pension contributions is capped at £2,000 a year from 6 April 2029. HMRC puts 3.3 million employees above the cap. What the Act does and what it costs an employer.
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Money Marketing, 21 October 2026: the full new State Pension is expected to exceed the frozen £12,570 Personal Allowance for the first time from April 2027, by £466.40. Where that leaves a return an accountant already prepares.
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HMRC's draft transitional rules close for comment on 28 September 2026. Clients born between 6 April 1971 and 5 April 1973 can be identified from payroll records now.
Read article · 9 min read
Pensions Policy Institute research finds more than three million pension pots worth at least £18.7 billion are lost in the UK. A change of employer across several years of tax returns is where that gap already shows.
Read articleA YouGov poll for Kingsley Napley, reported by Professional Adviser on 5 October 2026, finds 56% of the British public want inheritance tax abolished, and 78% have not sought, or have decided against, advice on it. Where that gap sits in a return an accountant already prepares.
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Pensions Policy Institute research finds women aged 55 to 59 hold 54% of the pension wealth of men the same age. What that looks like in the payroll and dividend records of a family company.
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Scotland dropped its council tax cap on second homes in 2026, and Wales allows a 300% premium. Where both land in a return an accountant prepares.
Read articleAccountancy Age reports that ministers have ruled out lowering the threshold for the new council tax surcharge on homes worth £2 million or more to £1.5 million. What the confirmed £2 million line means for a client's wider finances, and the estate planning it already touches.
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From 6 April 2023 separating spouses have three tax years for no-gain, no-loss transfers. Pension sharing orders work differently in Scotland.
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A sole-director company with no other staff has no automatic enrolment duty, the Pensions Regulator confirms. Thresholds were frozen on 18 December 2025.
Read articleThe lang cat's research, reported by Professional Adviser on 1 October 2026, finds 8.6 million UK adults hold £1.61 trillion in wealth without paying for financial advice. Where that figure sits in a tax return an accountant already prepares.
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A Welsh property above £40,000 needs a Land Transaction Tax return within 30 days, even where the tax due is £0 (Welsh Revenue Authority, Nov 2024).
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Ten firms serve 89% of discretionary wealth clients and the FCA says pricing is not always clear. What the survey means for an accountant with clients in that market.
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The FCA has warned again about unregulated loan notes and mini-bonds, and named accountants among the people who see them. What the self-certification thresholds are and where these investments show in a client's records.
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The FCA will take over anti-money-laundering supervision of around 60,000 legal and accounting firms by the end of 2028, the same regulator that already supervises financial planners. What was said, and what has not been published.
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UK investors have withdrawn £15.16bn from equity funds since June 2025 (Calastone). Interest on the cash is taxed every year, and it shows first on the return the accountant prepares.
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Cash above what a company needs is tested by three rules. The excepted assets rule for business property relief, the trading company test and the close investment-holding company rule.
Read articlePrime Minister Andy Burnham confirmed on 29 September 2026 that the state pension triple lock becomes a double lock from April 2030. Where that shows up in a return an accountant already sees.
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Retained profit, surplus cash, a director approaching 55, an uncovered guarantee, growth and an approach from a buyer. Each is a reason for a conversation with a financial planner.
Read article · 5 min read
Pensioner poverty has risen from 15.7% to 18.6%, and LCP's research of 17 August 2026 finds the increase is among single retirees. A separation reaches the accountant as a set of adjustments.
Read article · 7 min read
436,000 sole traders and landlords have filed their first Making Tax Digital quarterly update. What the update contains, who is in scope, and how often an accountant now sees a client's figures.
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The FCA's protection initiative of 21 September 2026 names the self-employed and gig economy workers as disproportionately unprotected. Their accountant holds their income figures.
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A relief-at-source pension adds 20% tax relief for every UK saver. A Scottish client paying 21%, 42%, 45% or 48% has to claim the rest through Self Assessment.
Read article · 7 min read
The Pensions Commission found that 4% of the wholly self-employed are saving into a pension. The Self Assessment return shows whether a contribution has ever been claimed.
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Mattioli Woods research, reported 28 September 2026, finds 44% of UK adults feel financially unprepared for a major life event. Where that shows up in a set of accounts first.
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HMRC confirmed on 5 October 2026 that sole traders and landlords with turnover over £30,000 must use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2027, about 1,077,000 more people. The test combines self-employment and property income already on the return an accountant files.
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A business owner's accountant and financial planner working from the same accounts at the same time. What each does and why the accountant starts it.
Read article · 4 min read
From the year-end meeting to the advice being in place. Each step of the Altro partnership and which firm does the work at each one.
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HMRC collected £322.7 billion in tax and National Insurance in the first four months of 2026/27, £19.1 billion more than a year earlier, against thresholds frozen to 5 April 2031. What that means for the clients whose accounts you prepare.
Read article · 8 min read
HMRC's first cryptoasset capital gains statistics, published 27 August 2026: 17,600 individuals, £1.38 billion of gains, an average of £78,000 each, and exchange data arriving from 2027.
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HMRC's first tax adviser registration window closes on 18 August 2026. Firms with an agent services account and financial services organisations register from 31 December 2026.
Read articleQuilter's Retirement Lifestyle Report finds retirees now spend more on gifts to family and grandchildren's education than on groceries, and that 63% of advised retirees are changing their inheritance tax plans against 8% of the unadvised.
Read articleEmployer pension contributions and business asset disposal relief both depend on decisions made before completion. What the financial planner does alongside the deal.
Read articleOffice of the Public Guardian data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act shows complaints about misuse of a lasting power of attorney at almost 12,000, up from 10,240 the year before. What an accountant's file shows about a client's affairs under attorney.
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AJ Bell warns that Budget speculation is pushing people into decisions they cannot undo. An extra £10 billion of tax-free cash left pensions before the 2024 Budget. What acting early costs, with the current rules and their sources.
Read article · 9 min readResearch commissioned by IG found 41% of UK investors had acted on a social media investment tip and 45% of those lost money. What an accountant can say when a client mentions one.
Read article · 8 min read
The FCA has decided to ban an adviser and fine him £742,700 over defined benefit pension transfer advice he was not permitted to give. How to check what a firm is permitted to do before a client speaks to it.
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The annual exempt amount is £3,000, the main rates are 18% and 24%, and business asset disposal relief is 18%. The decisions that change the bill are made before completion.
Read articleScottish Widows research finds 45% of SME owners have never sought business protection advice and 23% of SMEs could not trade on without a key person. Where dependence on one person shows in a set of accounts.
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AJ Bell research finds 88% of advisers surveyed say tax wrapper decisions have become more complex in three years. The client with no adviser is making the same decision alone.
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NextWealth's 2026 Financial Advice Business Benchmarks report finds 44% of the advice firms surveyed have switched off ongoing fees for some clients. Their accountants still see their accounts every year.
Read articleYouGov research for Mattioli Woods finds 26% of UK adults would invest up to £50,000 without speaking to a financial adviser, while 44% say they are not prepared for their financial future. Where that decision already sits in a client's file.
Read articleLCP figures obtained under Freedom of Information show 1.092 million pensioners now pay income tax at 40% or 45%, up from 494,000 in 2021/22. Where a retired client's income sits against the frozen thresholds.
Read articleEquity & General holds the FCA authorisation. There is no charge to your firm, and a named partnership director works with you from the first introduction.