Europe

Published on 22 October 2026, ICAEW’s helpsheet demystifies the UK income tax system ahead of the Autumn Budget. It explains the progressive rate structure (basic, higher, additional), the personal allowance taper, and the concept of fiscal drag – where inflation pushes earnings into higher tax bands without real income growth. The guide also covers interaction

On 22 October 2026, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) announced the formation of an Independent Tax Reform Commission. Chaired by a former Treasury official, the commission will review the UK tax system’s coherence, complexity, and fairness, with a final report due before the 2027 Autumn Budget. Its remit includes business

Following the completion of the multi‑factor authentication (MFA) rollout across HMRC’s digital services, the department issued a notice on 22 October 2026 urging all tax agents to sign into their Agent Services Account (ASA) and Online Services Account (OSA) to verify that MFA is functioning correctly. The move aims to prevent unauthorised access to sensitive

On 22 October 2026, the Senior President of Tribunals and the Lord Chief Justice issued a joint statement clarifying that artificial intelligence tools may assist judicial decision-making but cannot replace human judgment. The guidance applies to all tax tribunals and courts, emphasizing transparency, accountability, and the right to a fair hearing. AI may be used

The European Commission published 22 October 2026 draft implementing regulations setting default emissions values for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) transitional period. These values apply to imports of cement, iron, steel, aluminium, fertilizers, electricity, and hydrogen when actual embedded emissions data is unavailable. The defaults are based on the 10% worst-performing EU installations and