Crypto gains in the open as MTD auto-enrolment begins

HMRC

CRYPTO DATA LIVE

First standalone crypto-gains data lands; every practitioner should be paying attention

£1.38bn declared gains240 filers = 52% of £1m+ gainsCARF auto-exchange 2027

HM Revenue & Customs has published its inaugural set of statistics on taxable cryptoasset capital gains, having isolated digital assets into a standalone section of the Self Assessment return for the first time. The dataset shows £1.38bn in declared gains across 17,600 filers for 2024/25, with just 240 individuals (1.4% of filers) accounting for 52% of gains above £1m. Total disposal proceeds reached £13.8bn and enforcement activity has already generated £168m in additional CGT receipts. With the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) switching voluntary disclosure to automatic exchange in 2027, firms are being urged to audit client portfolios for unreported disposals, token swaps and staking income, refresh onboarding questionnaires and consider directing exposed clients to HMRC's Digital Disclosure Service before the matching engine goes live.

£1.38bn

declared crypto gains, 2024/25

17,600

filers reporting gains

£168m

extra CGT from enforcement

Concentration of large gains

of gains above £1m came from just 240 filers (1.4% of all filers)

What this means for firms. Run a crypto-exposure sweep across the personal tax book this September. Directing exposed clients through the Digital Disclosure Service now is cheaper than being matched by CARF in 2027.

Accountancy Age

Direct-recovery consultation on lower-value tax debts closes

4.8m taxpayers, ~£4bn in scope£5k / £10k thresholds

HMRC's consultation on tackling lower-value tax debts closed on Friday 28 August, setting the stage for a significant expansion of the Revenue's direct-recovery-of-debt powers. The proposals would allow HMRC to instruct banks and building societies to take monthly deductions from taxpayers' accounts to recover debts of up to £5,000 for individuals and £10,000 for businesses. HMRC estimates up to 4.8m taxpayers, owing around £4bn in aggregate, could fall in scope. Practitioners should expect a policy response later this autumn and prepare debt-management protocols for exposed clients, particularly those on payment plans with historic arrears.

4.8m

taxpayers potentially in scope

~£4bn

aggregate debt in scope

£5k / £10k

individual / business thresholds

AOL, HMRC

£16bn corporate tax gap and 81,000 'nudge' letters signal a widening net

£16bn CT gap81,000 crypto nudge letters

Fresh HMRC data puts unpaid corporate tax at roughly £16bn and confirms that 81,000 'nudge' letters have been sent to cryptoasset holders, alongside a broader push on offshore and gig-economy income. The scale of activity indicates that compliance capacity is being reallocated toward higher-yield, data-driven interventions. Firms with SME and owner-managed business books should expect a heavier flow of one-to-many correspondence into Q4, and consider proactive risk reviews of cross-border services, marketplaces and crypto exposures.

What this means for firms. Assume one-to-many correspondence volumes rise into Q4. Sweep SME books for cross-border service, marketplace and crypto exposure before the first letters land.

Accountancy Age

Making Tax Digital

HMRC begins auto-enrolling taxpayers into MTD for Income Tax from this month

Auto-enrol from SeptemberLetters bypass agents

From September, HMRC will start automatically signing up taxpayers it believes should be in scope of Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment. The initial population comprises sole traders and landlords with combined gross income above £50,000 for 2024/25, with the threshold falling to £30,000 from April 2027. Crucially, HMRC has confirmed the sign-up letters go direct to the taxpayer. Agents will not receive a copy, making proactive client outreach and 64-8 audits an immediate priority for practices.

What this means for firms. Run a 64-8 audit across every in-scope client this week and get ahead of the letter. Once auto-enrolment activates, clients call you first and you are working without HMRC's paper trail.

ATT, HMRC

First quarterly update deadline lands with 51% compliance

436k of 864kSoft-landing penalty holiday

The first mandatory MTD quarterly update deadline on 7 August saw 436,000 of the 864,000 taxpayers HMRC identified as in scope file on time, a compliance rate of just over 50%. HMRC has confirmed it will not levy penalty points for late quarterly updates during the 2026/27 soft-landing year, but late-filing behaviour is being logged. Firms should treat the first cycle as a diagnostic on client readiness and bookkeeping quality rather than a compliance win.

First MTD quarterly update, 7 August 2026taxpayers

No penalty points during the 2026/27 soft-landing year, but late-filing behaviour is being logged.

HMRC, trade press

Mandatory e-invoicing regime targeted for 2029

Peppol-style networkB2B and B2G VAT

The Government has confirmed it is working toward a mandatory e-invoicing regime from 2029, primarily covering VAT invoices for B2B and B2G transactions. HMRC has confirmed the model will rely on invoices exchanged between businesses through software providers rather than through a central government portal, a decentralised design closer to the Peppol network than to Italy's SDI. Software vendors are already positioning product roadmaps around the announcement.

HMRC policy update

Accountancy in Practice

Tech-stack fatigue: firms want to halve the number of tools they run

8+ tools average57% want to halve stack

Practice-management commentary this week returned to a familiar theme: the average UK accountancy firm now runs eight or more tools to deliver core services, and 57% want to reduce that stack by half over the next three years. The trend is driving renewed interest in consolidated ledger-plus-practice platforms and in AI-native workflow tools that replace three or four point solutions at once. Vendors selling into mid-market firms should expect harder procurement conversations this budgeting cycle.

Appetite for consolidation

of firms want to halve their tool stack within three years

What this means for firms. Map current tools against workflow this quarter. Consolidation candidates surface fast; a September rationalisation plan avoids paying for duplicate licences into 2027.

AccountingWEB

Talent squeeze intensifies for tech-fluent accountants

80% hiring difficultyStrategic advisor as baseline

80% of firms report difficulty hiring skilled professionals, with the sharpest gap in candidates who combine technical accounting with data, automation and AI literacy. The profession is increasingly framing the 'strategic advisor', capable of navigating a digital-first, complex regulatory environment, as the new baseline rather than a specialism, with knock-on effects for training pipelines, apprenticeship design and lateral hiring strategies.

Hiring difficulty

of firms report difficulty hiring tech-fluent professionals

Accountancy Age

Private equity keeps buying: accountancy consolidation runs hot

BDO UK&IXeinadinFS multiples up

Deal trackers continue to show strong PE interest in UK and Irish accountancy platforms, with rollups and cross-border tie-ups dominating the pipeline. The BDO UK & Ireland combination remains the sector's most-watched integration, and mid-tier firms report regular inbound approaches from sponsor-backed consolidators. Partners weighing exit or recapitalisation should re-baseline valuation expectations against the recent uptick in financial-services multiples.

Accountancy Today, Inside Public Accounting

Corporate Finance & M&A

UK financial-services M&A value up eight-fold in H1 2026

8x on H1 2025Insurance / AM heavy

EY's half-year read on UK financial-services M&A shows aggregate deal value up roughly eight-fold on H1 2025, driven by a small number of large insurance and asset-management transactions and by continued PE dry-powder deployment. Advisory teams should expect a busy Q4 run-rate as processes launched over the summer come to market.

UK financial-services M&A: H1 2025 vs H1 2026£ billion, disclosed deal value

Seven deals over £1bn, including two in the £8bn to £10bn range. The top 7 accounted for 93% of value; the 'flight to quality' thesis holds.

EY, Consultancy.uk

Ireland: H1 volumes hold up, aggregate value softens

Q1: 126 deals, €1.43bnProf services / insurance / healthcare

Ireland's M&A market entered a more subdued phase in H1 2026, with aggregate deal value stepping back from the elevated 2025 comparators even as deal count held steady. Q1 recorded 126 deals worth roughly €1.43bn, ahead of both Q1 2025 (111) and Q4 2025 (117). Corporate finance houses continue to flag professional services, insurance and healthcare as the most active sectors, with strong cross-border interest from UK and US buyers.

Irish M&A deal count by quarterdisclosed deals

What this means for firms. Ireland deal count is holding, value is softer. Advisers should coach vendors to run tight processes and prepare quality-of-earnings packs early to protect certainty of close.

Philip Lee, Grant Thornton Ireland

Independent Financial Advisory & FCA

PS26/15 finalises the revised UK transaction-reporting regime

FCAPS26/15 · 3 August 2026

The FCA has published PS26/15, setting out the final rules for a modernised UK transaction-reporting regime. Advisers and wealth managers with in-house dealing or reporting infrastructure should map the changes against their MiFIR reporting pipelines now, particularly around instrument-reference data and reportable-field scope. Outsourced providers are expected to reissue client change-control notes over the autumn.

FCA

PS26/16 rewires information flows for UK equity IPOs

FCAPS26/16 · 5 August 2026

PS26/16 confirms the FCA's new framework for information flows around UK equity IPOs, part of the broader push to make London a more competitive listing venue. Corporate finance advisers, brokers and IFAs advising on placings should refresh research-and-connected-analyst protocols and pre-IPO communications templates ahead of Q4 launch windows.

FCA

AIFM reform consultation (CP26/28) puts a size-graduated regime on the table

CP26/28Small <£750m / Med / Large

The FCA's consultation on a modernised UK AIFM regime moves toward a graduated framework in which managers are categorised as Small (under £750m AUM), Medium (£750m to £5bn) or Large (over £5bn), with proportionate obligations at each tier. Boutique managers and multi-family offices operating just below the £750m boundary should model both the 'stay small' and 'grow through' scenarios during business planning.

What this means for firms. Model the £750m boundary as a live strategic threshold in the FY27 business plan, not a regulatory footnote.

FCA

Financial-crime review flags weaknesses in asset management

Sanctions screening gapsSoW evidenceGovernance MI

The FCA published findings from its review of financial-crime frameworks across asset management and alternative investment firms, highlighting good practice alongside areas needing improvement, particularly around sanctions screening, source-of-wealth evidence and governance MI. Advisory firms with discretionary or model-portfolio propositions should benchmark against the findings and refresh AML training accordingly.

FCA

Cryptoasset authorisation window opens 30 September

Window opens 30 Sep 2026Regime live 25 Oct 2027

The FCA has confirmed the cryptoasset authorisation window opens on 30 September 2026, with the substantive regime taking effect from 25 October 2027. Firms with permitted activities that touch cryptoassets, including wealth managers using tokenised funds, should confirm perimeter position before the window opens.

FCA policy timetable

Ireland: Technical Watch

R&D tax credit rises to 35% for periods ending on or after 31 December 2026

30% to 35%First-year threshold €87,500

The R&D tax credit rate steps up from 30% to 35% for accounting periods ending on or after 31 December 2026, and the first-year payment threshold rises to €87,500 from €75,000. The combined effect improves cash flow for smaller innovation-active clients and re-opens the case for reviewing which activities and staff costs are being claimed. Firms should refresh client eligibility matrices and consider running a look-back exercise for FY25 claims filed on the old rate.

Irish R&D tax credit rate% credit

First-year payment threshold rises to €87,500 from €75,000.

What this means for firms. Refresh the R&D eligibility matrix and book a look-back review across FY25 claims. Even a small uplift on prior filings compounds fast at the higher rate.

Budget 2026 update

New crypto reporting obligations bed in alongside broader compliance load

Crypto reporting liveCRO · CT1 · iXBRL · RBO

Budget 2026 introduced significant new reporting requirements for cryptocurrency transactions, adding to an already dense Irish compliance calendar that includes CRO annual returns, CT1, iXBRL, VAT, PAYE, RBO beneficial-ownership updates and bank-record obligations. Practices should treat crypto in the same way as offshore accounts a decade ago: identify exposed clients now, document positions and prepare disclosure options.

Outbooks Ireland

Software Updates

QuickBooks Online lifts prices again from 1 August

Live from 1 Aug$38 to $275 US tier range

QuickBooks Online implemented another price increase effective 1 August 2026, with US entry-level pricing now spanning roughly $38 to $275 per month depending on plan. UK list-price movements typically follow. Practices should refresh client-billing assumptions and, where relevant, re-negotiate wholesale and partner discount tiers before the next renewal cycle.

What this means for firms. Renegotiate wholesale and partner discount tiers before UK list-price movements follow, and update client engagement letters to reflect the new pass-through economics.

Intuit, Insightful Accountant

Xero pushes AI data-capture into UK product ahead of MTD

Xero£26 Growing to £37 Grow

Xero has continued rolling out AI-powered data capture and extraction to UK customers in the run-up to MTD for Income Tax, and its Xerocon event drew 45+ exhibitors in Denver in August. UK pricing has moved every year for three consecutive years, the former £26 'Growing' plan is now the £37 'Grow' plan, and product roadmaps continue to prioritise MTD ITSA readiness.

Xero

MTD-compatible software field stays crowded but stable

SageXeroQuickBooks

Sage, Xero and QuickBooks remain the anchor MTD-recognised platforms for UK VAT and are each publicly committed to MTD for Income Tax support. Firms consolidating tech stacks should weigh not only feature parity but bureau-workflow depth, API access and the quality of client-facing mobile experiences, the last increasingly the deciding factor in landlord-and-sole-trader segments.

TechFinitive