Use of clients’ HMRC sign-in details
In a policy paper published on 27 May 2026, HMRC has reiterated that the sharing of HMRC sign-in details is prohibited under its online services terms and conditions. The paper explains that the prohibition does not extend to individual members of an organisation accessing the organisation’s HMRC web services account for legitimate business purposes.
HMRC says that it may block access to accounts where unsafe access is detected, which could “disrupt activities such as filing tax returns, potentially leaving taxpayers at risk of penalties”. Further, agents are reminded that sharing sign-in details is a breach of HMRC’s standard for agents, and that HMRC will consider taking action against agents who breach the standards on a case-by-case basis.
Further information
IT issues and the company tax return
HMRC has published form WT1: Company tax return IT problems. HMRC says that the form should be used where the company has been unable to submit their tax return online because of an IT problem with HMRC online services.
Winter fuel payments and Making Tax Digital
HMRC has updated its guidance on the recovery of the winter fuel payment through the tax system for taxpayers who are required to use Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax. The guidance explains that HMRC will write to the taxpayer after they’ve submitted their 2025/26 tax return with details of how much they need to pay and how to make the payment.
Separately, HMRC has published the third edition of its MTD for income tax software developer newsletter. The newsletter contains a section on common issues reported by software developers in May 2026, which may be of interest to businesses and agents.
Changes for investment managers and their clients
HMRC has updated Statement of Practice 1 (2001) (SP1/01): Treatment of investment managers and their overseas clients to take into account changes made by Finance Act 2026. The updated statement has effect from 1 January 2026, except to the extent that it requires a non-resident or investment manager to make changes to current circumstances or contractual arrangements in order to comply with the terms of the updated statement, in which case the previous version of SP1/01 may still be applied.
Land transaction tax: dwellings
The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) has updated its guidance on whether a property is suitable for use as a dwelling for the purposes of land transaction tax. The WRA says that “the revisions are intended to improve clarity and transparency only” and not represent a change in policy.
Tax Faculty
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