A new excise duty on vaping products came into force on 1 October 2026. Vaping Products Duty (VPD) applies to vaping liquids manufactured in, or imported into, the UK, whether or not they contain nicotine.
The duty is charged at £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid. It is paid by manufacturers, importers and certain wholesalers, although businesses may choose to pass the cost on to retailers and consumers. Vaping products kept in approved warehouses can be held without paying the duty until they are released for sale.
The introduction of VPD is accompanied by a new Vaping Duty Stamps Scheme. Vaping products manufactured or imported from 1 October 2026 must carry a duty stamp on their retail packaging. Transitional stamps without digital functionality can be used until 31 December 2026, with digitally enabled stamps becoming mandatory for new products from 1 January 2027. The stamps are intended to improve traceability and help HMRC and other enforcement agencies tackle illicit sales.
A six-month transitional grace period applies to existing eligible stock. Wholesalers and retailers can continue to sell unstamped, non-duty-liable stock until 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027, all vaping products sold in the UK must carry a valid vaping duty stamp.
New personal allowance rules also apply to travellers. Those arriving in Great Britain can bring up to 50ml of vaping liquid for personal use without paying duty or tax. Amounts above this must be declared, with duty and tax payable on the full quantity.
The government expects VPD to raise more than £550 million a year by 2030-31. The new duty was first announced at Spring Budget 2024 and then confirmed at Autumn Budget 2024.
HMRC is writing to individuals it believes may have failed to declare consultancy income from private healthcare providers on their self-assessment tax returns. The letters follow information received from private healthcare providers and form part of an HMRC campaign specifically targeting the medical sector.
The letter asks recipients to check their tax returns and make sure all consultancy income has been included. HMRC stresses that the letter is not a compliance check at this stage but warns that failing to take action could lead to a compliance check and potentially higher penalties if errors are subsequently found.
Recipients are given 30 days from the date of the letter to respond. If a tax return is incorrect and is still within the normal amendment period, it can be amended. Where the deadline for amending the return has passed, the individual can make a voluntary disclosure to HMRC instead.
Anyone who believes they have no consultancy income to disclose is also asked to contact HMRC within the 30-day period. If the recipient does not respond, HMRC says it will continue to monitor the individual’s records and may make a decision based on the information it holds.
The letter also highlights the potential impact on penalties. If HMRC subsequently finds an error, a disclosure made after the letter has been received will generally be treated as ‘prompted’. This can affect the penalty reduction available. However, HMRC says penalties can be reduced where individuals provide full details of mistakes, disclose them promptly and take steps to put matters right.
If you think you may be affected by this campaign, we can help you review your tax returns, identify any undeclared consultancy income and deal with HMRC where necessary. Please contact us if you would like advice on what to do next.
The tax treatment of predevelopment costs has been the subject of a recent Supreme Court decision. This is likely to mean that capital allowances will be restricted for some predevelopment costs. The government has consulted on the impact of the decision and whether the current rules could affect investment decisions.
Predevelopment costs are costs incurred in the early stages of a project, before the main development work begins. They can include feasibility studies, surveys, design work, planning and other regulatory approvals and preparatory activities. The amount and type of costs will vary between projects and sectors.
The Supreme Court decision earlier this year established that expenditure must be incurred ‘on the provision of’ plant or machinery to qualify for plant and machinery capital allowances. This means that some predevelopment costs will not qualify. For example, expenditure on securing planning permission would not normally meet this test. Where such expenditure is capital in nature, it may therefore receive no tax deduction.
A HM Treasury consultation was published in July and sought views on the types of predevelopment costs businesses incur and the extent to which uncertainty remains following the Supreme Court decision and the effect of the current rules on investment decisions. The government says it is not currently minded to change the tax treatment of these costs.
Concerns have been raised that this could increase the commercial risk associated with long-term development projects, particularly where substantial costs are incurred before a project proceeds. There have been calls for clearer HMRC guidance on the treatment of historic claims and future tax relief for predevelopment costs.
The government has said that it will publish its response to the consultation in due course. In the meantime, businesses undertaking significant investment projects should review the treatment of their predevelopment expenditure and consider whether costs previously treated as qualifying for capital allowances remain eligible under the current rules.
Anyone selling a UK residential property usually needs to report the disposal to HMRC within 60 days of completion. The requirement applies even where the individual is not normally required to report Capital Gains Tax (CGT) through a tax return.
Any CGT due must normally be paid within the same 60-day period. Payment can be made online or by other methods accepted by HMRC, and taxpayers should allow sufficient time for the payment to reach HMRC by the deadline. Where the amount of tax due changes after the property disposal has been reported, the taxpayer may need to update the return and pay any additional amount due. Interest and penalties may apply where a gain is not reported and paid on time.
The gain must be calculated taking into account the costs associated with acquiring and disposing of the property as well as any qualifying improvement costs and any reliefs or exemptions that may apply. Private Residence Relief may be available where the property was the individual's main home.
Importantly, reporting and paying the tax through HMRC's online service does not remove the need to include the disposal on the annual self-assessment tax return where the individual is already registered for self-assessment.
Non-UK residents have wider reporting obligations and must report all disposals of UK property or land, including where no CGT is due.
Businesses using the Trader Support Service (TSS) to move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland need to prepare for a new platform launching soon. From 20 October 2026, all goods movements must be submitted using the new TSS platform.
Businesses are being asked to pre-enrol before the switchover. From 1 October, existing TSS users will receive an email explaining how to pre-enrol for the new platform. They will also be given access to a test environment so they can familiarise themselves with the new system before it becomes mandatory.
The TSS is a free digital service that supports businesses moving goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and helps them comply with the Windsor Framework.
Businesses will need to create a new password and check that their business details and permissions are up to date. HMRC says that updating a profile should generally take between 5-30 minutes, depending on the size of the business and the information available.
From 20 October, the existing TSS platform will no longer accept new goods movements. Businesses that have not completed the switchover could therefore be unable to submit declarations through the service.
The customs processes and legal obligations for businesses are not changing. However, the new platform is intended to provide improved functionality and support.
HMRC’s latest Corporation Tax statistics show that receipts from corporate taxes passed £100 billion for the first time in 2025-26.
The main statistics are as follows:
A part-time private hire driver challenged a flat weekly fee his company charged for access to its booking and dispatch system. Because the fee did not vary with hours worked, part-timers paid far more per hour than full-timers for the same service. He claimed less favourable treatment because of his part-time status. The Employment Tribunal rejected the claim, finding the fee was a revenue measure and that part-time status had to be the sole reason for the treatment, with the resulting appeal leading all the way to the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court unanimously held that a part-time worker (PTW) bringing a less favourable treatment claim under the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (PTWRs) 2000 does not need to prove that part-time status was the sole reason for the treatment. It is sufficient that it was an effective cause or significantly influenced the outcome. Employers can no longer defend a policy simply by pointing to a second commercial motive, such as administrative convenience or revenue generation. Neutral-looking practices like flat fees, fixed charges and benefit rules that fall harder on part-timers are now much easier to challenge, in your own organisation and among your clients.
The successful claim rested on Regulations 5(1) and 5(2) of the PTWRs. These were made under Section 19 of the Employment Relations Act 1999 to implement Directive 97/81/EC. Under the law, PTWs must not be treated less favourably than comparable full-timers unless the treatment is objectively justified. The Court stressed that the Regulations deliberately omit the words "solely because", so the ordinary "effective cause" approach from discrimination law applies.
To reduce your risk, review pay structures, fees and benefits for anything that costs part-timers proportionately more or gives them less, and pro-rate salary, bonuses, pensions, leave and expenses wherever possible. Where a policy does have a disproportionate effect, record the legitimate aim behind it and why it is necessary and proportionate, bearing in mind that revenue or convenience alone is unlikely to be enough. Remember that the Regulations cover workers as well as employees, so include contractors in your review. Finally, make sure HR, payroll and finance teams understand the new test, and treat any part-time grievance about pay or benefits as a potential claim by taking specialist advice early.
A new system for recording waste movements came into operation on 1 October 2026.
The first phase of mandatory digital waste tracking applies to permitted or licensed sites receiving controlled waste in England and Wales.
Affected organisations must record details of every load they receive through the Government’s new digital service. In most cases, the information must be submitted within two working days, beginning on the day after the waste is received. More than 12,000 permitted waste sites in England are expected to be covered by the new arrangements.
Businesses can either enter information directly through the Government service or use compatible commercial software that connects to it. The immediate obligation falls mainly on businesses operating waste-receiving sites, but this is only the first stage of a much wider change.
The Government intends eventually to create a digital record covering waste from the point at which it is produced through collection, transport and final treatment or disposal. Waste collectors are expected to become subject to mandatory digital tracking from October 2027.
The aim is to improve transparency and make it more difficult for illegal operators to disguise where waste has come from or where it has gone.
Businesses directly affected should check that staff understand the new reporting deadlines and that their software or administrative procedures can capture the required information accurately.
Other businesses should also watch developments. Digital waste tracking is gradually replacing paper-based records with a more traceable digital audit trail.
For businesses that produce, move or receive significant quantities of waste, now is a good time to review existing record keeping and establish whether future changes are likely to affect them.
A business may have the finance, premises and customers for an expansion project, yet still face another obstacle: obtaining enough electricity.
The Government has announced Great British Grid, a new publicly owned organisation intended to help accelerate investment in Britain’s electricity network.
The issue is becoming increasingly important as businesses electrify heating, transport and manufacturing processes, while renewable generation, battery storage and data-intensive activities also require additional grid capacity.
One proposed change could directly affect businesses planning substantial projects.
The Government intends to expand the use of self-build electricity connections. This could allow developers and businesses, where appropriate, to arrange construction of their own connection rather than waiting for the network company to complete the work.
That does not mean every business will suddenly be able to obtain an immediate connection. Britain’s electricity network requires substantial expansion and many projects are competing for capacity. However, the announcement highlights something businesses should consider surprisingly early in an investment project.
If an expansion requires substantially more electricity, installing rapid vehicle charging, electrifying production or opening energy-intensive premises, available grid capacity should form part of the initial feasibility work.
There is little benefit in committing to premises, machinery and finance before discovering that the required electricity connection could delay the project significantly. For larger investments, energy capacity is therefore becoming another issue to examine alongside finance, planning permission, staffing and expected demand.
The earlier it is investigated, the greater the opportunity to adjust the project, consider alternative locations or explore other connection options before significant commitments are made.
HMRC has been consulting on proposals to modernise the tax rules governing distributions and repayments of capital from companies. The consultation was published on 23 June 2026 and closed on 14 September 2026.
The proposals look at the treatment of ‘new consideration’ and ‘repayments of capital’, distributions from non-UK companies and the interaction between the distributions and loans to participators regimes. They also include reforms to demergers, Purchase of Own Shares (POS) relief and the Transactions in Securities (TIS) rules. The consultation focuses on situations where the shareholder is within the charge to Income Tax. The proposals are not intended to directly affect corporate shareholders.
Currently, where a company carries out a reduction or return of share capital, the amount received by a shareholder is generally treated as a distribution to the extent it exceeds the capital originally contributed. However, existing rules allow for various arrangements usually involving holding companies and share reorganisations to extract value while paying CGT rather than Income Tax.
HMRC proposes to address this by ‘freezing’ the amount of capital attributed to shares in future holding companies at the amount originally subscribed for the investment. This could mean that more of a payment from a share buyback or other return of capital is treated as a taxable distribution rather than a capital receipt. The government recognises that the proposal might potentially lead to unfair outcomes in certain circumstances.
Concerns have been raised by parties including the ICAEW about the potential impact on companies of the proposed changes, including those relating to reductions of share capital. HMRC will analyse the consultation responses before deciding whether to proceed and may consult further on specific reforms.
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