The reporting threshold for trading income for self assessment is being lifted from £1,000 to £3,000 gross within this parliament, according to the Treasury.

This includes people trading clothes online, dog-walking or gardening on the side, driving a taxi, or creating content online.

The Treasury says this will benefit around 300,000 taxpayers who will no longer need to file a self assessment tax return.

An estimated 90,000 of them will have no tax to pay and no reason to report their trading income to HMRC in the future at all. Others will be able to pay any tax they owe through a new simple online service.

The changes are part of the government’s Plan for Change, which it says will drive forward efficiency reform.

James Murray, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:

‘From trading old games to creating content on social media, we are changing the way HMRC works to make it easier for Brits to make the very most of their entrepreneurial spirit.

‘Taking hundreds of thousands of people out of filing tax returns means less time filling out forms and more time for them to grow their side-hustle.

‘We are going further and faster to overhaul the way HMRC works to make sure it delivers the Plan for Change that will help put more money in people’s pockets.’

Internet link: GOV.UK

The reporting threshold for trading income for self assessment is being lifted from £1,000 to £3,000 gross within this parliament, according to the Treasury.

This includes people trading clothes online, dog-walking or gardening on the side, driving a taxi, or creating content online.

The Treasury says this will benefit around 300,000 taxpayers who will no longer need to file a self assessment tax return.

An estimated 90,000 of them will have no tax to pay and no reason to report their trading income to HMRC in the future at all. Others will be able to pay any tax they owe through a new simple online service.

The changes are part of the government’s Plan for Change, which it says will drive forward efficiency reform.

James Murray, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said:

‘From trading old games to creating content on social media, we are changing the way HMRC works to make it easier for Brits to make the very most of their entrepreneurial spirit.

‘Taking hundreds of thousands of people out of filing tax returns means less time filling out forms and more time for them to grow their side-hustle.

‘We are going further and faster to overhaul the way HMRC works to make sure it delivers the Plan for Change that will help put more money in people’s pockets.’

Internet link: GOV.UK

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled plans to cut red tape as the government aims to kickstart economic growth.

The government says its Action Plan will save businesses across the country billions of pounds by cutting the number of regulators, streamlining their core legal duties and cracking down on complexity in the regulatory system.

It says regulators have signed up to 60 growth boosting measures, including fast-tracking new medicines to market through a new pilot to provide parallel authorisations from key healthcare regulators, so that patients can access the medicine they need quicker

Other measures will aim to boost infrastructure building by simplifying guidance to protect bat habitats and streamlining mortgage lending rules, including making it easier to re-mortgage with a new lender and reduce mortgage terms.

The UK’s business groups welcomed the announcement.

Dr. Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the Institute of Directors (IoD), said:

‘The Government’s Better Regulation Action Plan is a welcome shift to a more growth friendly approach.

‘In addition to the measures announced today, we would also like to see the government apply more rigorous and timely impact assessment procedures when considering new regulation. Non-regulatory solutions should always be considered, and the business case for new regulation should be subject to proper independent scrutiny by the Regulatory Policy Committee. There should also be a commitment to reviewing the ongoing effectiveness of existing regulation at regular intervals.’

Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said:

‘A plan to cut red tape and reduce the burden on businesses is long overdue.

‘In sectors like hospitality, businesses have been struggling with too much cost and too many regulations for decades, and it has held back growth.’

Internet link: GOV.UK IoD UKHospitality

The government’s employment reforms are causing employers to put their hiring plans on hold, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD).

The IoD noted that there was a small increase in payrolled employees in the latest Labour market data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK increased by 9,000 between December 2024 and January 2025, said the ONS.

However, the ONS data also showed static job vacancies and increase in the unemployment rate.

Alex Hall-Chen, Principal Policy Advisor for Employment at the Institute of Directors, said:

‘Our data shows that half of business leaders facing higher National Insurance bills plan to reduce employment in response, and that business hiring intentions over the next year remain around lows last seen at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘The government missed an opportunity at Report Stage of the Employment Rights Bill to show that it has listened to business feedback about how to avoid the reforms damaging employment prospects.

‘The government’s Better Regulation Action Plan is a welcome shift in narrative, but such commitments will ring hollow if the principles are not first applied to its plans to increase the regulation and cost associated with employing staff.’

Internet link: IoD ONS

The government has stopped controversial plans to collect information about the exact hours worked by every employee in PAYE returns.

The data collection on employee hours was meant to start from April 2026, but the plan has been scrapped as part of the government’s attempts to reduce red tape and regulatory burden for business.

The (Draft) The Income Tax (Pay As You Earn) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 will not be progressed further after the results of a consultation were published.

HMRC said:

‘The government has listened to businesses and acted on their feedback about the administrative burden the requirements in these regulations would bring.’

The Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT) warned last May that the estimated one-off cost to businesses of £58 million and ongoing costs of £10 million – an average per business of £29 and £5 respectively- were “significantly underestimated” and that gathering additional data to provide to HMRC would lead to extra work for many employers.

The CIOT added it was unclear why HMRC wanted to collect this information and what they were going to use it for.

Eleanor Meredith, Chair of the CIOT’s Employment Taxes Committee, said:

‘We’re pleased to see the Government’s decision not to progress this legislation. We raised several concerns about the proposal, primarily the extra burden this would place on businesses to provide much more detailed data to HMRC.

‘We also raised concerns that the cost to businesses of complying with these requirements had been underestimated, despite the calculations being revised upwards during the course of the consultation.

‘It’s reassuring that we, and other representatives, have been listened to during this process and our warnings heeded.’

Internet link: GOV.UK CIOT