Short, current reads on what is changing for trade businesses — the CIS anti-fraud rules, nil returns coming back, the dividend and mileage changes, day-one sick pay, and the dates that matter this year.
4 August 2026
Immediate loss of gross payment status, liability for somebody else's lost tax, a 30% penalty that reaches directors, and a five-year bar on reapplying.
Read the article21 July 2026
The obligation removed in 2015 has been reinstated for mainstream contractors, and a forgotten quiet month carries a £100 penalty even when no tax is due.
Read the article30 June 2026
The rate that had not moved since 2011/12 went up ten pence. It adds up to £1,000 of extra relief a vehicle a year, and bookkeeping software may still be claiming the old 45p.
Read the article19 May 2026
10.75% and 35.75% from 6 April 2026, with the additional rate untouched. What it costs on real drawings, and how it moves the sole-trader-versus-company crossover.
Read the article27 April 2026
The lower earnings limit and the waiting days both went. Why removing waiting days is the expensive half, and why short site absences are exactly the wrong shape for it.
Read the article13 April 2026
What qualifies, what does not, why supply-only is standard rated, and how to write a contract for work that might slip past the cliff edge.
Read the article16 March 2026
Two capital allowances changes pulling in opposite directions: a new first-year allowance available to sole traders, and a slower unwind on everything already in the main pool.
Read the article24 February 2026
Who pays, how it is charged, why the rate depends on which local authority you are in, the brownfield half rate, and the exemption that keeps most SME builders out of it.
Read the articleThe full guides
Browse the guides library2026 was an unusually busy year for anyone running a trade business, and the changes did not arrive together or get reported consistently. The main dates:
| Date | What changed |
|---|---|
| 1 Jan 2026 | New 40% first-year allowance on main-rate plant, open to unincorporated businesses — see the capital allowances article |
| 6 Apr 2026 | CIS anti-fraud: immediate loss of gross payment status, liability for the lost tax and a 30% penalty reaching directors personally — read it |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Nil CIS returns reinstated for mainstream contractors — read it |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Umbrella company PAYE moves to the agency, or to the end client where there is no agency |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Dividend rates up two points to 10.75% and 35.75% — read it |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Mileage 45p → 55p for the first 10,000 business miles — read it |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Day-one statutory sick pay, lower earnings limit removed — read it |
| 6 Apr 2026 | Main-rate writing-down allowance 18% → 14% (1 April for corporation tax) |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Building Safety Levy commences in England, under 10 units exempt — read it |
| 31 Mar 2027 | Energy-saving materials zero rate ends, reverting to 5% — read it |
| Jan 2027 | Unfair dismissal qualifying period falls from two years to six months, with uncapped awards |
Several of these depend on two Bills. The CIS anti-fraud measures, the 40% first-year allowance, the writing-down cut and the dividend rise all come through Finance Bill 2025-26, and the 55p mileage rate through the Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill. HMRC publishes and operates all of them, and its own rate tables already carry the new figures. We have not confirmed Royal Assent of either Act, so check the enacted text before quoting any of them in correspondence.
Clients hear about changes like these from us directly, with the 'what it means for your jobs' already worked out.