{"id":43749,"date":"2026-04-07T11:12:05","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=43749"},"modified":"2026-04-07T11:12:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:12:05","slug":"six-big-tax-changes-as-new-financial-year-begins-money-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=43749","title":{"rendered":"Six big tax changes as new financial year begins | Money News"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Several changes that could affect your tax bill took effect as the new financial year began this week.<\/p>\n

Here are six big tax changes that have now kicked in…<\/p>\n

Making tax digital <\/strong><\/p>\n

Sole traders and landlords earning more than \u00a350,000 from self-employment and property will have to use the Making Tax Digital system from 6 April.<\/p>\n

The new system is a UK government initiative aimed at modernising the tax system by getting businesses and landlords to keep digital records and submit quarterly tax updates to HMRC using compatible software.<\/p>\n

Under the changes, sole traders will be forced to file at least five updates to HMRC every year – four quarterly updates on their income and expenses and an end-of-year tax return.<\/p>\n

If a self-employed person is also a landlord, that doubles the amount of financial updates needed to be filed, and doesn’t take into account VAT returns.<\/p>\n

To start with, only qualifying people earning more than \u00a350,000 will have to use the system. Those earning more than \u00a330,000 – an estimated 970,000 people – will be required to use it from next April.<\/p>\n

Free software options are available, and once income and expenses are recorded, the software generates a simple summary to send to HMRC.<\/p>\n

Penalty points will be given for each late submission, with a \u00a3200 penalty only applied once four points are reached.<\/p>\n

This means occasional slip-ups won’t result in immediate fines.<\/p>\n

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Inheritance tax <\/strong><\/p>\n

Changes to agricultural and business property reliefs for inheritance tax purposes have been rolled out.<\/p>\n

A new cap of \u00a32.5m before inheritance tax is due is in place for farmers.<\/p>\n

For assets above this, a 50% tax relief will be applied.<\/p>\n

The cap was originally proposed at \u00a31m in last year’s autumn budget, but an announcement was made in late December to increase it to \u00a32.5m after protests from farmers.<\/p>\n

For everyone else, the inheritance tax threshold of \u00a3325,000, unchanged since 2009, has been extended until 2030.<\/p>\n

Inheritance tax is due when you leave an estate valued above a certain threshold to your loved ones when you die.<\/p>\n

There is no tax if your estate’s value is below the \u00a3325,000 threshold or you leave your estate to your spouse or civil partner, or an exempt charity or group.<\/p>\n

The tax is charged at 40% on the part of the estate above the threshold.<\/p>\n

For example, if someone’s estate is worth \u00a3400,000 when they die, \u00a375,000 of it will be taxed at 40%, amounting to \u00a330,000 total tax.<\/p>\n

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