Date set for the Spring Statement
The government has announced that it will make a statement to Parliament on 3 March 2026 in response to the Office of Budget Responsibility’s (OBR’s) spring forecast.
As explained in the Autumn Budget 2025 document, the OBR will publish the following each year:
- an assessment of the government’s performance against the fiscal mandate, at the Budget in the autumn; and
- an interim update on the economy and public finances, in the spring.
The government says that it “will not normally respond [to the OBR’s spring forecast] with fiscal policy, unless there is a significant change to the economic outlook that requires a response”. This is part of the government’s commitment to deliver a single fiscal event each year.
<h2id=2>Reduction in HMRC's interest rates </h2id=2>HMRC’s interest rates on underpaid and overpaid tax and duties are linked to the Bank of England (BOE) base rate. On 18 December 2025, the BOE base rate was cut by 0.25 percentage points, to 3.75%.
HMRC has updated its guidance to include the new rates applying from:
- 29 December 2025, for corporation tax quarterly instalment payments; and
- 9 January 2026, for other payments of tax and duties.
The headline rate of interest charged by HMRC on most underpaid taxes and duties will fall from 8% to 7.75% from 9 January 2026.
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R&D advance assurance pilot
HMRC has confirmed that, in Spring 2026, it will “pilot a targeted R&D advance assurance service for all small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) planning to claim R&D relief”. Applicants will be able to seek assurance from HMRC on the following aspects of their R&D tax relief claims before submitting the claims to HMRC:
- whether the project meets the definition of R&D for tax purposes;
- whether overseas expenditure qualifies for relief;
- which party can claim relief for contracted-out expenditure; and
- whether the company qualifies for exemption from the pay as you earn (PAYE) or national insurance contribution cap.
HMRC says that it will provide further details in due course.
This follows a consultation that ran between March and May 2025. An earlier article highlights the key points from ICAEW’s response to the consultation. The government published a response to the consultation on 26 November 2025.
New and updated guidelines for compliance
HMRC says that it publishes guidelines for compliance (GfC) “to reduce uncertainty for multinational enterprises (MNE) by providing greater clarity and transparency of HMRC compliance expectations”.
HMRC has:
- published GfC 16: Help with imported hybrid mismatches; and
- updated GfC 7: Help with common risks in transfer pricing approaches.
Webinar: foreign income and gains regime
The foreign income and gains (FIG) regime replaced the rules for non-domiciled individuals with effect from 6 April 2025. HMRC is delivering a live webinar on the FIG regime for agents on 13 January 2026. A recording of the webinar will be published on GOV.UK after the event and a second live webinar will be delivered on 10 February 2026.
Register for the webinar
New guidance on disincorporation
HMRC has published guidance on the tax considerations where a company transfers its business to a shareholder.
ABAB publishes its 2025 annual report
The Administrative Burdens Advisory Board (ABAB) is an independent body set up “to provide valuable business insight and expertise to HMRC” on “issues relating to regulation and administration of tax for small businesses”. On 17 December 2025, it published its annual report for 2025, reporting on its engagement with HMRC over the course of the year and providing a summary of the responses it received to its survey. The key points from the survey were covered in an earlier article.
In her foreword to the report, Dame Teresa Graham DBE, Chair of ABAB, highlights some “notable successes” in ABAB’s engagement with HMRC. However, there is criticism of:
- HMRC's handling of class 2 national insurance contribution errors; and
- the publication, in November 2025, of new draft guidance on mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind without first sharing drafts with stakeholders.
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