Salary sacrifice changes become law
The National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. As explained in an earlier article, the Act gives HM Treasury the power to make regulations to introduce a £2,000 cap on the NIC exemption for salary sacrificed pension contributions from April 2029. The government has said that it will consult on the design and operation of the cap.
R&D tax relief software issue
HMRC has informed ICAEW that some tax software products may not have been updated for new boxes L71, L71A, L72, L72A, L73 and L73A on the company tax return supplementary page CT600L. The boxes relate to the pay as you earn cap that applies for the purposes of the merged scheme research and development expenditure credit (RDEC). Taxpayers and agents who experience difficulties in submitting returns due to this issue may wish to consider contacting their software provider.
Income tax statistics published
HMRC has published statistics for UK taxpayers for the tax year 2023/24. The figures show an increase in the number of taxpayers, and in the number of taxpayers paying income tax at the higher and additional rates of tax, compared to 2022/23.
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