Compliance Check

On 26 November 2025, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves announced the highly anticipated Autumn Budget. This Autumn Budget includes several tax measures aimed at businesses and individuals, covering areas such as venture capital, business rates, income tax thresholds, and high-value property taxes.

We have summarised several effective tax planning methods to help small and medium-sized enterprises legally and efficiently reduce their corporation tax burden and improve financial performance.

From 1 February 2026, Companies House will officially increase the Annual Filing Fee for existing companies and the Incorporation Fee for new companies.

From the 2025 tax year, the Benefit-in-Kind regime will undergo several changes: higher tax rates for electric vehicles, reclassification of certain car models, and the upcoming introduction of the ‘payrolling’ system for real-time taxation of benefits.

If you plan to start a business or are already operating from commercial premises, business rates are a crucial tax to understand in addition to company registration, accounting and tax filing. Business rates are closely tied to your eligibility for Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR).

Whether transferring all your shares or disposing of part of the business assets, the key question you’ll face is: how much tax will you need to pay when selling a business in the UK. This does not only involve Capital Gains Tax (CGT) but also requires careful planning around available reliefs and the compliance of the transaction structure.

In recent years, QR codes have become an indispensable part of daily life and are increasingly common across the UK. Whether ordering drinks in a bar or paying for parking, a quick scan can complete the transaction within seconds. According to British media reports, in just one year QR scams have cost consumers more than £3.5 million.

More than 1.1 million UK pensioners may soon pay income tax on savings interest; Temu’s EU profit nears $120 million despite having only eight employees, sparking tax controversy; and UK inflation remains unchanged at 3.8% for the third consecutive month.

As winter approaches, heating, electricity and food expenses are expected to climb even higher, potentially pushing more households into debt crises. At the same time, HMRC has announced the restart of its Direct Recovery of Debts (DRD) scheme, which allows the tax authority to deduct unpaid taxes directly from individuals’ bank accounts.

Recent UK tax compliance data has sounded the alarm once again: in the past three years, nearly half a million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) repeatedly missed tax deadlines, with as many as 19% admitting they delayed tax payments more than five times in just the past 12 months. A combination of complex tax rules and cash flow pressures is dragging UK SMEs compliance levels down.

HMRC Urges 758,000 Young People to Claim Unused Child Trust Funds; Prime Minister’s Labour Conference Focuses on Immigration Policy and Education Reform; Packaging Tax Increases Cost Pressures, UK Food Inflation May Rise by Another 0.5%

Many UK business owners will already be aware of upcoming compliance changes. Companies House has confirmed that identity verification will soon be compulsory for company directors and persons with significant control (PSCs). This month, the agency officially announced the implementation date. From 18 November 2025, company directors and PSCs will be required to provide a personal code when filing registration documents.

Fast fashion giant Shein has delivered a striking performance in the UK market. In 2024, its sales surged by 32.3% year-on-year to surpass £2.05 billion (around USD 2.77 billion). This result has already pushed Shein ahead of Boohoo and close to overtaking Asos. The figures come from a report filed by Shein’s UK subsidiary with Companies House, revealing how it has managed to win over millions of fans in one of the world’s most competitive retail landscapes.

The new regulations impose high-frequency, high-dimensional reporting obligations on platforms. They also introduce automatic identity and transaction data matching for sellers—signalling the end of the grey-area practices involving offshore platforms, offshore income, and missing declarations. Given the situation, many have wondered – does Hong Kong still offer a low-tax advantage for businesses?

Recently, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) issued a new statement announcing that, due to a historic state pension error, over 130,000 individuals have received a total of approximately £800 million in backdated state pension payments.

Since UK company registration requires a real, compliant UK address, this has become a major headache for some business owners.We’ll discuss what to do if your UK company’s registered address is disputed or deemed non-compliant—and how overseas business owners can still register a UK company without a physical address in the country.

For business owners, one of the most stressful events is likely a surprise visit from the tax office without any prior notification.

In the past decade, the UK tax authority (HMRC) has frequently conducted surprise audits, with the rate of this increasing each year.

With the conclusion of the UK general election, the Labour Party has become the ruling party and introduced a series of new fiscal measures.

We often encounter clients who are confused about their tax obligations, particularly when it comes to income earned overseas.