HMRC has updated the IHT400 notes to reflect changes made in the Spring Budget 2024 and a change within the probate process, including a grant on credit section. HMRC also published new guidance on applying for a grant on credit where one is unable to raise the funds to pay inheritance tax.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published an update to pension schemes newsletter 155. The update relates to question eight of the lifetime allowance FAQs which has been revised to correct a factual error, and reflect the fact that legislation will not be introduced to limit which individuals can apply for a transitional tax-free amount certificate. While applications are expected to be made after 6 April 2024, it will remain the case that individuals can apply to any scheme of which they are a member.

The HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published updates to the Construction Industry Scheme: CIS 340 guide, which is designed to assist contractors and subcontractors in the Construction Industry Scheme. The definition of a mainstream contractor in section 2.2 has been updated and a new section, ‘Consider if the business is a property investor or property developer’, has been inserted.

Two days after the publication of the HMRC Employer Bulletin October 2024 (as reported by us in LNB News 16/10/2024 24 ‘Employer Bulletin: October 2024’), the article on 'Introduction of a new statutory allowance from April 2025 — Statutory Neonatal Care Pay and Leave' has been removed. The original article provided some brief details about the new allowance to statutory neonatal care leave and pay, and stated that from 6 April 2025 HMRC would begin to administer the new statutory allowance on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade. At this time, there is no further information about why that article has been removed.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published its response to the consultation on changes to the treatment of Inheritance Tax (IHT) of unused pensions funds, together with a policy paper and draft Finance Bill 2025-26 provisions on 21 July 2025. While HMRC has confirmed that from 6 April 2027, the government will bring most unused pension funds and death benefits into the scope of IHT, there have been some changes made to the original proposals consulted on between 30 October 2024 to 22 January 2025. Personal representatives will now be responsible for reporting and paying IHT on these assets, but death in service benefits from registered pension schemes and certain dependants’ pensions will remain exempt. The government’s reform is part of a broader effort intended to create a fairer and more consistent tax system by removing disparities in how different pension types are treated for IHT purposes.

Law360: HMRC raised almost £1bn in its most serious criminal investigations of tax fraud year-on-year in April 2024, according to research published by Pinsent Masons LLP on 23 September 2024.

HMRC has announced that Airbus Operations Limited (AOL) has paid more than £6.4 million in a compound settlement for multiple breaches of strategic export controls, representing the highest compound settlement reached by HMRC for strategic export offences. The settlement, reached under the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA 1979) and the Export Control Order 2008, SI 2008/3231, relates to breaches including: (1) failures to maintain accurate records of controlled technology transfers under three open general export licences (OGELs) contrary to Article 29(2)(a-g) and Article 29(2)(i); (2) failures to keep registers in relation to OGELs contrary to Article 29(3) and (3) one failure of standard individual export licence conditions. AOL self-reported the breaches and fully cooperated with the investigation.

Law360: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has had to hand back £48.7m in Q2 to pension savers who paid too much tax when accessing their pension savings, figures revealed 30 July 2025, as experts say a fix for the long-running tax provision so far has shown little effect.

Law360,: The government has been forced to repay £56.9m in the three months between April 2024 and June 2024 to people who overpaid tax after they accessed their pensions for the first time, according to HMRC.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has warned that 5.65 million people still need to file their Self Assessment tax return ahead of the 31 January 2025 deadline, after 6.36 million taxpayers submitted theirs and thousands filed over New Year. It says customers risk late filing penalties and urges anyone unable to meet the deadline to inform HMRC before 31 January 2025, while also warning Self Assessment customers of increased scam risks. HMRC also highlights changes affecting those paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge, upcoming Making Tax Digital requirements from 6 April 2026, and the need for Capital Gains Tax adjustments on assets sold after 30 October 2024, and confirms that Winter Fuel Payments do not need to be included on the 2024–2025 return.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has reported that it will auction off gold bars, luxury watches and rare coins to recover funds that were stolen in a ‘missing trader’ VAT fraud, perpetuated by Anthony Bond. Bond was imprisoned for seven and a half years in April 2019 for the fraud and was also ordered to pay back more than £1.8m by 18 April 2024 or face an extra eight years in jail.

HMRC has reported that company director Steven Gates, was sentenced to two years and one month imprisonment at Leeds Crown Court, for breaching UK export licensing rules that support international sanctions on the export of military equipment. Gates attempted to export military-grade thermal imaging rifle sights to Hong Kong without the required strategic export licenses between February 2022 and May 2023 and was convicted under sections 68 and 167 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA 1979). To circumvent the UK's licensing regime, which supports international sanctions including the partial arms embargo extended to Hong Kong in 2020, Gates falsified shipping documents by misrepresenting the items as low-value cameras. HMRC’s enforcement efforts have increased substantially, as evidenced by the rise from five criminal investigations in 2021–22 to 51 in 2024–25, demonstrating a heightened focus on export control violations that undermine international sanctions compliance.