The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, made her Spring Statement speech – setting out the government’s plans to provide security, reform the state and grow the economy, including the approach to raise additional funds to deliver the Plan for Change.

Key tax measures are detailed below

Information on all Spring Statement measures announced can be found in the Spring Statement 2025 page on GOV.‌‌‌UK.

Tax related documents, including consultations and tax information and impact notes can be found on GOV‌‌‌.UK.

High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) changes

From summer 2025, your eligible employees who become liable to the HICBC will be able to report their family’s Child Benefit payments through a new digital service and pay HICBC directly through changes to their PAYE tax code. The HICBC charge itself is not changing.

Paying your PAYE and VAT bill by Direct Debit

GOV‌‌‌.UK guidance has been updated on how to pay your:

•	PAYE bill by Direct Debit
•	VAT bill by Direct Debit

You can make your PAYE or VAT payments simpler by signing up to pay by Direct Debit. Direct Debit is the most accurate way to pay your PAYE and VAT tax bills, reducing the burden of having to make the payment yourself, so you don’t need to work out how much you need to pay or miss a payment deadline.

Payments are automatically collected from your bank account based on the information you provide in your:

•	Full Payment Summary and Employer Payment Summary for PAYE tax bill
•	VAT return

Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES)

The PISCES, a new type of regulated stock market, will facilitate secondary trading of private company shares on an intermittent basis. HM Treasury will introduce legislation in May‌‌‌ 2025 to implement PISCES. Trading is likely to begin later in 2025. 

The technical note sets out:

•	the tax consequences when employees acquire shares in the companies they work for
•	how the readily convertible asset rules apply
•	how PISCES trading windows interact with the tax advantaged share schemes, Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) and Company Share Option Plan (CSOP)
•	when Capital Gains Tax is chargeable and share valuation rules

A draft statutory instrument providing exemption from Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) for PISCES share transactions has been published for technical consultation.

The consultation is open for feedback until 23‌‌‌ April‌‌‌ 2025.

Research and Development (R and D) consultation

HMRC is publishing a consultation on widening the use of advance clearances in R and D tax reliefs.

This consultation will explore options that aim to reduce error and fraud in the reliefs, provide certainty to businesses, and improve the customer experience.

The consultation is open for feedback until 26 May 2025.

Information on all the Spring Statement measures announced today can be found in the Spring Statement 2025 page on GOV‌‌‌.UK. 

Consultations can also be found on GOV‌‌‌.UK.

HMRC Help & Support from Spring Statement