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Daily Accountancy Briefing

EU data puts Irish corporate tax at €20.1bn as HMRC eases agent access

Tuesday, 29 September 2026•UK & Ireland

New EU country-by-country reporting shows €20.1bn of Irish cash-tax payments, with Apple and Microsoft alone making up 98%, HMRC upgrades the Online Services Account so firms can assign multiple clients to one staff member and confirms a globally mobile carve-out for benefit-in-kind payrolling, the FCA moves to make transaction reporting more proportionate, and UK M&A tracks 662 deals worth £625bn over 90 days.

Ireland

CT1 DEADLINE PASSED

EU transparency rules unmask multinational tax footprint: €20.1bn

€20.1bn combined Irish cash taxApple and Microsoft are 98% of the total

New EU country-by-country reporting has surfaced combined Irish cash-tax payments of €20.1bn across 25 disclosed firms, with Apple and Microsoft alone accounting for 98% of the total. The disclosure gives Irish advisers a much clearer view of client-comparable tax positioning under Pillar Two-adjacent transparency rules, and is a useful reference point for any client benchmarking its own effective tax rate against large multinational peers.

€20.1bn

combined Irish cash tax across 25 disclosed firms

98%

of the total paid by Apple and Microsoft alone

What this means for firms. Advisers with multinational clients now have a public comparator for effective tax rate conversations. Use the €20.1bn concentration figure to frame how atypical the two largest filers are before a client anchors expectations on them.

EU Commission, The Irish Times

23 September CT1 deadline has passed

31 Dec 2025 year-endsSurcharge risk check

Companies with a 31 December 2025 year-end were required to file their CT1 corporation tax return via ROS by 23 September 2026. Firms should confirm all client filings landed cleanly and address any late-filing surcharge risk this week while it is still fresh, rather than waiting for Revenue correspondence to surface a gap.

Revenue.ie

Technical Updates

ICAEW issues insolvency vulnerability guidance

Debtors, directors, creditors, employeesConduct expectations

ICAEW has issued September guidance to assist insolvency practitioners in identifying indicators of vulnerability among debtors, directors, creditors, and employees. The publication supports appointment-takers in meeting evolving conduct expectations and documenting appropriate safeguards, and should be built into standard case-opening checklists rather than treated as a one-off read.

ICAEW

HMRC

Online Services Account: firms can now assign multiple clients to one staff member

Long-requested changeReduces shared-credential reliance

HMRC has announced enhancements to the Online Services Account so that firms can assign multiple clients to a single staff member, a long-requested change that should reduce reliance on shared credentials and improve firm-level access controls. The change pairs directly with the MFA rollout completing this week and gives practices a genuine alternative to shared logins rather than just a security requirement to comply with.

What this means for firms. Reconfigure staff-to-client assignments now that shared credentials are avoidable. This closes the access-control gap that MFA alone does not solve.

HMRC

BiK payrolling: globally mobile employee carve-out confirmed

Mandatory payrolling exclusionClass 1A NIC clarified

HMRC has confirmed that employers may exclude globally mobile employees from mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind, and has clarified the Class 1A NIC position for voluntary payrolling. Firms advising internationally mobile workforces should update payroll design ahead of implementation, ensuring the carve-out is documented rather than assumed.

HMRC

Software Updates

QuickBooks user-seat tiers confirmed

Simple Start: 1Essentials: 3, Plus: 5, Advanced: 25

Intuit continues to differentiate plans by user count: one user on Simple Start, three on Essentials, five on Plus, and 25 on Advanced, with accountant seats provided in addition. Practices scoping client rollouts should confirm the appropriate tier for team access requirements before recommending a plan that will need an upgrade within the year.

Intuit

Sage builds a cloud-and-AI platform positioning against Xero

Installed-base leverageEmbedded AI convergence

Sage is leveraging its installed base to build a broader cloud-and-AI platform proposition, positioning itself against Xero's cloud-first, automation-led market pitch. Product direction across all three major vendors continues to converge on embedded AI, live data feeds, and MTD-compliant workflows, narrowing the practical differences firms once used to choose between them.

Sector commentary

Corporate Finance & M&A

UK M&A tracker: 662 deals worth £625bn in the last 90 days

662 deals, £625bnAI infrastructure and FS concentration

Broader UK M&A activity is concentrated in AI-related infrastructure, financial services, and professional services consolidation, with 662 deals worth £625bn tracked in the last 90 days across the market. The rolling figure gives corporate finance teams a live benchmark for pitch materials heading into Q4 conversations.

662

UK deals tracked in the last 90 days

£625bn

combined disclosed deal value

Consultancy.uk, EY

Independent Financial Advisory

FCA moves to make transaction reporting smarter, simpler and more proportionate

Proportionality overhaulEarly planning advised

New FCA rules are reshaping transaction reporting to be smarter, simpler, and more proportionate, which advisers and their compliance teams should assess against existing reporting frameworks. Early implementation planning is advisable to capture the efficiency benefit, particularly for firms currently over-reporting relative to the proportionality standard the FCA is now targeting.

What this means for firms. Firms should audit current transaction-reporting scope against the new proportionality standard now. Early movers capture the efficiency gain sooner than firms that wait for a mandate.

FCA