2.    Employer National Insurance Contributions (NICs)

The significant changes to the NICs paid by employers started to apply from 6 April 2025. An increase in the rate of employers’ NICs from 13.8% to 15% is combined with:

• A decrease in the threshold at which an employer starts to pay NICs on each employee’s salary from £9,100 to £5,000 (A higher threshold of £50,270 applies for employees who are under 21 and apprentices under 25).

• An increase in the amount of the Employment Allowance, which eligible employers can offset against their employers’ NICs liability, from £5,000 to £10,500.

• A relaxation in the rules that determine which employers are eligible for the Employment Allowance. Until 5 April 2025, the Employment Allowance has only been available to businesses with a prior tax year employers’ NICs liability of less than £100,000. This rule no longer applies for 2025/26, meaning employers may be able to access the £10,500 allowance, even if their 2024/25 employers’ NIC cost exceeded £100,000. Other restrictions on claiming the employment allowance still apply (including a limit of just one allowance between connected employers).

3.    The High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC)

You may have to pay the HICBC if your income exceeds £60,000 and child benefit is being paid in relation to a child that lives with you, regardless of whether you are a parent of that child. If you are living with another person in a marriage, civil partnership or long-term relationship, you will only be liable to the HICBC if you are the higher earner of the two of you.

For 2025/26, the HICBC is calculated at 1% of the child benefit received for every £200 of income above £60,000. This means that child benefit is fully clawed back where income exceeds £80,000.

From summer 2025, if you are an employee who is liable to pay the HICBC, you will be able to use a new digital service to declare the charge and opt to pay it directly through PAYE, without the need to register for self-assessment.

4.   Additional clarity on R&D reliefs

Due to the complexity of the rules around R&D reliefs, many companies do not know at the point of making an R&D investment whether the costs will qualify for R&D relief. This can lead to no claim being made, or a claim being made that doesn’t qualify.

HMRC already offer voluntary advance assurances to businesses to help them have more certainty about their claim. However, this service is rarely used.

The government is consulting on widening the use of ‘advance clearances’ to try and make them more useful and reduce errors and fraud. One aspect being considered is whether to make assurances mandatory in certain areas – particularly those where HMRC feels the risk of an incorrect claim is high.

The consultation also considers whether there should be a minimum expenditure threshold before R&D relief can be claimed. In the past, a £25,000 threshold has been used.

5. Identity verification coming to Companies House

As part of the changes being gradually introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT), identity verification is set to become a Companies House requirement.

This is one of a number of changes that the Act is making to better protect the data held at Companies House.

Who will be affected by identity verification?

Identity verification will ultimately become a compulsory part of incorporation and new appointments for new directors and persons with significant control (PSCs).

All existing directors and PSCs will also need to verify their identity as part of the annual confirmation statement filing, once Companies House make this mandatory. Anyone who files a document will also need to have their identity verified.

Mandatory identity verification is still being prepared for. However, individuals will be able to voluntarily verify their identity from 8 April 2025 using their GOV.UK One Login or via an Authorised Corporate Service Provider (ACSP).

Changes for third party corporate service providers

Last week also saw the introduction of a new service for third party corporate service providers, such as accountancy firms, to apply to register as an ACSP.

Ultimately, third party providers will have to register to be able to file information and confirm they’ve verified the identities of their clients.

ACSPs have to be:

-Based in the UK

-Register with Companies House

-Be registered with a UK supervisory body for anti-money laundering (AML) services

-Retain records of identity verification checks.

England & Company will be registering as an ACSP and will be able to continue providing an extensive range of company secretarial support.

Edited by - Peter Burns - Senior Client Manager at England & Company