Advisory fuel rates
HMRC has published the advisory fuel rates applying from 1 March 2026 for employees using a company car. The rates should be used where the employer reimburses employees for business travel in their company cars or requires employees to repay the cost of fuel used for private travel.
R&D and creative interdisciplinary projects
HMRC has updated its guidance on the definition of R&D for tax purposes to cover creative interdisciplinary projects. HMRC says that the updated guidance “clarifies that the costs associated with arts related roles and activities may qualify [for R&D tax relief] where they directly contribute to resolving scientific or technological uncertainties”.
Changes to country-by-country reporting
As announced in Agent Update 140, HMRC will:
- introduce a new authorisation requirement for agents for country-by-country (CbC) reporting; and
- make “a small update” to the interpretation of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) business rules for CbC reporting.
HMRC’s advice to agents who are due to submit returns in the next few weeks is that they should submit them as normal, rather than waiting for the changes to go live.
HMRC online services and administrators
HMRC has published guidance for agents on how to prevent loss of access to HMRC online services when an account administrator leaves.
HMRC research
HMRC has published the following research and analysis:
- Effectiveness of Penalty Suspension
- Traders and Intermediaries Panel Research Summary Report 2025
- Parents' experiences of the childcare service
- HMRC intellectual property rights Application for Action research
Aggregates levy devolution
HMRC has published Revenue and Customs Brief 2, explaining the new arrangements for taxing aggregate (rock, sand and gravel) in Scotland from 1 April 2026. The guidance also sets out what to do where a business based in England, Wales or Northern Ireland moves aggregate into Scotland after 1 April 2026.
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