The background in very simple terms
In 2015, regulations were made that gave effect to the agreements and arrangements reached between the UK and other countries to improve international tax compliance. These regulations were amended in July 2025 and the changes include the introduction of new mandatory registration requirements.
The requirements
This means that there is a requirement for a company to register if it derives greater than 50% of its income from a managed platform, and the deadline is the 31 December 2025.
Do not panic about this deadline!
The new requirement is an internationally mandated one, and unfortunately HMRC have been very slow to get their processes together and publicise the requirement so here at Cowgills we have had virtually no time to tell clients about the new requirement. It’s the same for everyone.
No penalties for late registration
The Revenue has acknowledged that they have slipped up but they are unable to push the effective date back as it is an international money laundering requirement. However, what they have said is they will not penalise those that register late.
What next?
We will be assisting clients to navigate the change in January and albeit they will have missed the deadline there will be no consequences to this. However for those who have their Government Gateway information they should be able to register themselves using this link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-for-automatic-exchange-of-information
Advisors are only allowed to register one client per 24 hours and as we have lots of companies and trusts that we will need to register, and not enough days in the year, we will need to register clients in bulk.
We will be providing more information in January but for now the message is not to panic.
