Rule changes across the UK, Ireland and the UAE, by the date they apply

United Arab Emirates

in 14 days

E-invoicing: large businesses must appoint a service provider

Businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more must have appointed an accredited e-invoicing service provider. The deadline was extended from 31 July 2026; go-live for these businesses stays at 1 January 2027.

Who it affects

UAE businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more.

Legal basis

Ministerial decisions on the UAE e-invoicing system, as amended in May 2026

Official source

UAE Ministry of Finance: amendments to the eInvoicing decisions

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

in 33 days

Identity verification transition period ends

The 12-month transition that began on 18 November 2025 ends. Directors and PSCs who were already on the register verify by their own due date: a director gives a personal code in the company’s next confirmation statement; a PSC who is not also a director gives it within the first 14 days of their birth month.

Who it affects

Directors and PSCs of every UK company, wherever they live.

Legal basis

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

Official source

GOV.UK: Verify your identity for Companies House

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Arab Emirates

in 77 days

E-invoicing goes live for large businesses

Businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more must have implemented the UAE e-invoicing system. Smaller businesses follow in later phases.

Who it affects

UAE businesses with revenue of AED 50 million or more.

Legal basis

Ministerial decisions on the UAE e-invoicing system

Official source

UAE Ministry of Finance: amendments to the eInvoicing decisions

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

in 172 days

Unused pension funds come within inheritance tax

For deaths on or after 6 April 2027, most unused pension funds and pension death benefits count towards the value of the estate for inheritance tax.

Who it affects

Anyone with UK pension savings they may not draw in full, and their estate plans.

Legal basis

Amendments to the Inheritance Tax Act 1984, the Finance Act 2004 and ITEPA 2003

Official source

GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax on pensions technical note

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

in 533 days

Company accounts must be filed through software

Accounts filed on or after 1 April 2028 must be filed through commercial software in iXBRL format, and web and paper filing of accounts closes. Small companies and micro-entities must also file a profit and loss account, with an option to keep it off the public register.

Who it affects

Every UK company, including dormant companies.

Legal basis

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

Official source

GOV.UK: Using software to file your company’s information

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Arab Emirates

in 1172 days

Small Business Relief: the last tax periods that can claim it

A resident business with revenue of AED 3 million or less can elect to be treated as having no taxable income for tax periods ending on or before 31 December 2029. The end date was extended from 31 December 2026 in August 2026. The relief is not available to a qualifying free zone person.

Who it affects

Small UAE businesses and freelancers with revenue of AED 3 million or less.

Legal basis

Ministerial Decision No. 73 of 2023, as amended by Ministerial Decision No. 131 of 2026

Official source

UAE Ministry of Finance: Small Business Relief extended to 2029

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Business Asset Disposal Relief rate rises to 18%

Gains that qualify for Business Asset Disposal Relief or Investors’ Relief are taxed at 18% for disposals on or after 6 April 2026, up from 14% (and 10% before 6 April 2025). Anti-forestalling rules decide which rate applies when a contract signed earlier completes later.

Who it affects

Founders and shareholders selling a business or qualifying shares.

Legal basis

Finance Act 2025

Official source

HMRC Capital Gains Manual CG63955

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Joint HMRC and Companies House filing service has closed

The free online service for filing company accounts and the Company Tax Return together was available up to and including 31 March 2026. From 1 April 2026 the Company Tax Return must be filed with HMRC through commercial software, and accounts are filed separately with Companies House.

Who it affects

Companies that filed their own accounts and tax return without an agent or software.

Legal basis

HMRC and Companies House service change

Official source

GOV.UK: Closure of the service to file your company accounts and tax return

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Companies House fees change

The digital filing fee for incorporating a company rises to £100 and for a confirmation statement to £50. The digital fee for a voluntary strike-off falls to £13.

Who it affects

Anyone forming or maintaining a UK company.

Legal basis

Companies House fees, set by regulations under the Companies Act 2006

Official source

GOV.UK: Companies House fees are changing from 1 February 2026

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

Ireland

SARP minimum salary rises to €125,000; programme extended to 2030

For employees arriving in Ireland on or after 1 January 2026, the Special Assignee Relief Programme requires a basic salary of at least €125,000, up from €100,000. The programme is extended to arrivals up to 31 December 2030.

Who it affects

Employers relocating senior staff to Ireland, and the staff they relocate.

Legal basis

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 825C, as amended by Finance Act 2025

Official source

Revenue: Tax and Duty Manual Part 34-00-10

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

Ireland

Revised Entrepreneur Relief lifetime limit rises to €1.5 million

The lifetime limit on gains taxed at the 10% Capital Gains Tax rate under Revised Entrepreneur Relief rises from €1 million to €1.5 million, for disposals made on or after 1 January 2026.

Who it affects

Founders and owners selling qualifying Irish business assets.

Legal basis

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 597AA, as amended by Finance Act 2025

Official source

Revenue: Tax and Duty Manual Part 19-06-02b

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

IHT exit charge when trust assets move offshore after the settlor leaves

Where a settlor stops being a long-term UK resident, moving the trust’s assets from UK to non-UK situs afterwards no longer avoids the inheritance tax exit charge. This applies to trust exit charges from 26 November 2025.

Who it affects

Trustees of trusts whose settlor has left, or is leaving, the UK.

Legal basis

Budget 2025 measure amending section 65 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984

Official source

GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax anti-avoidance

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Companies House identity verification becomes a legal requirement

Anyone who becomes a director or a person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House, directly or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. Directors and PSCs already on the register have a 12-month transition period to verify by their own due dates.

Who it affects

Directors and PSCs of every UK company, wherever they live.

Legal basis

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

Official source

GOV.UK: Verify your identity for Companies House

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Remittance basis abolished; four-year FIG regime begins

Domicile stops being a connecting factor for UK income tax and capital gains tax, and UK residents are taxed on worldwide income and gains as they arise. Someone who becomes UK resident after 10 consecutive tax years of non-residence can claim relief on foreign income and gains for their first four years of residence.

Who it affects

People moving to the UK, and former non-domiciled residents.

Legal basis

Finance Act 2025

Official source

GOV.UK: the 4-year foreign income and gains regime

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Inheritance tax moves from domicile to long-term residence

Whether non-UK assets are within UK inheritance tax now depends on being a long-term UK resident, broadly resident in at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years, rather than on domicile. The status continues for a period after leaving the UK, so a move abroad does not end the exposure at once.

Who it affects

Long-term UK residents, people who have left or plan to leave the UK, and trusts they have settled.

Legal basis

Finance Act 2025

Official source

GOV.UK: Inheritance Tax if you’re a long-term UK resident

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

£5 million cap on IHT charges for formerly excluded property trusts

For trusts that held excluded property on 30 October 2024, relevant property inheritance tax charges are capped at £5 million over each ten-year cycle. The cap was announced at Budget 2025 and has effect from 6 April 2025.

Who it affects

Trustees and settlors of trusts set up by people who were not UK domiciled under the previous rules.

Legal basis

Budget 2025 measure, with effect from 6 April 2025

Official source

GOV.UK: Capping IHT trust charges for excluded property

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Employer National Insurance rises to 15%

The employer secondary Class 1 National Insurance rate rises from 13.8% to 15%, and the secondary threshold above which employers pay it falls from £9,100 to £5,000 a year per employee.

Who it affects

Every employer that runs a UK payroll.

Legal basis

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025

Official source

legislation.gov.uk: NIC (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Arab Emirates

Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax for large groups

UAE entities of multinational groups with consolidated revenue of at least €750 million in two of the four preceding financial years pay a top-up tax that brings their effective rate in the UAE to 15%, for financial years starting on or after 1 January 2025.

Who it affects

UAE companies and branches of large multinational groups. Groups below the threshold are not affected.

Legal basis

Federal Decree-Law No. 60 of 2023; Cabinet Decision No. 142 of 2024

Official source

UAE Ministry of Finance: Top-up Tax

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

Ireland

Retirement Relief capped on transfers to a child

For disposals of qualifying business assets to a child on or after 1 January 2025, Retirement Relief is capped at €10 million for an owner aged 55 to 69 and at €3 million for an owner aged 70 or over.

Who it affects

Owners passing an Irish family business or farm to their children.

Legal basis

Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 599, as amended by Finance Act 2023

Official source

Revenue: Tax and Duty Manual Part 19-06-03b

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

Ireland

Employer PRSA contributions limited to 100% of salary

Employer contributions to an employee’s PRSA above 100% of the employee’s emoluments for the year are taxed as a benefit in kind. Before this, employer PRSA contributions carried no benefit-in-kind charge and no link to salary.

Who it affects

Proprietary directors, and employers funding PRSAs in Ireland.

Legal basis

Finance Act 2024 (No. 43 of 2024)

Official source

Houses of the Oireachtas: Finance Act 2024

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

VAT registration threshold rises to £90,000

A business must register for VAT once its taxable turnover over the previous 12 months goes above £90,000, up from £85,000. The deregistration threshold rises from £83,000 to £88,000.

Who it affects

UK companies, including companies owned from abroad, as their turnover grows.

Legal basis

The Value Added Tax (Increase of Registration Limits) Order 2024 (SI 2024/307)

Official source

legislation.gov.uk: SI 2024/307

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Kingdom

Registered office, registered email and lawful purpose rules

Every UK company must have an appropriate registered office, where documents can be delivered and acknowledged, and a registered email address for Companies House. It must also confirm, on incorporation and in each confirmation statement, that its intended activities are lawful. A PO box no longer qualifies as a registered office.

Who it affects

Every company on the UK register, including companies run from abroad.

Legal basis

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/269)

Official source

legislation.gov.uk: SI 2024/269

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026

United Arab Emirates

UAE corporate tax applies

Federal corporate tax applies to financial years beginning on or after 1 June 2023: 0% on taxable income up to AED 375,000 and 9% above it. A qualifying free zone person can apply a 0% rate to its qualifying income.

Who it affects

UAE companies, free zone entities, and foreign companies with a permanent establishment in the UAE.

Legal basis

Federal Decree-Law No. 47 of 2022; Cabinet Decision No. 116 of 2022

Official source

UAE Ministry of Finance: Corporate Tax

Checked against the source on 13 October 2026