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Recent media reports are warning of potential tax rises ahead — and for many business owners, landlords, and high-net-worth individuals, that means it’s a good time to review your plans.

While no changes are confirmed yet, speculation is mounting around how the next Budget could attempt to raise revenue. As your trusted accounting partners in Northern Ireland, we wanted to walk you through what might be on the horizon — and what steps you can take now to protect yourself.

The UK Government has announced a wide-ranging plan to support small businesses, outlining a series of measures aimed at tackling long-standing challenges and helping smaller firms to grow.

The plan has been welcomed by leading professional bodies, including the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), as an important step toward strengthening the UK’s small business economy.

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show signs that the UK labour market is continuing to cool.

For the three months to June, unemployment rose slightly to 4.7%, the highest in four years, while average pay growth slowed from 5% to 4.6% including bonuses. Excluding one-off payments, pay remained flat at 5%, suggesting that employers are scaling back incentive-based rewards as budgets tighten.

HMRC has launched a new letter campaign targeting companies that may have miscalculated corporation tax marginal relief on their recent returns.

Businesses receiving one of these letters must respond within 30 days, even if they believe their calculations are correct. Failure to do so could result in a formal compliance check and potential penalties.