Article last updated 31 March 2026.
If you have clients who fit any of the profiles below, we can work with you to triage priorities, model the trade-offs and map a practical implementation sequence before deadlines are missed.
Identify who can take action before deadlines
Make sure actions and documentation align with tax allowances and exemptions to avoid missed opportunities
Focus on what can realistically be completed before the deadline
Seek advice early
These changes cut across valuation, tax, legal documents, and liquidity — a joined‑up accountant/solicitor/financial planner conversation now is better than a rushed fix later.
It's worth focusing attention on clients where the calendar genuinely influences their outcomes:
If you have a director considering dividend extraction, a family actively gifting, or any client contemplating an exit in the next 18 months, we can work together to quantify the rate delta and test what is realistically deliverable before 5 April.
Allowance use often fails at the “plumbing” stage:
If the ownership trail, board process or gifting paperwork is likely to be questioned later, we can help you and the client review the position and coordinate the investment and implementation steps so the documentation keeps pace with the intention.
Use the “hard reset” allowances and any clearly appropriate timing actions.
If you want a quick “is this supportable before 5 April?” check, we can run a short triage call with you and produce a step-by-step action list that you can use in client discussions.
These are the straight forward numbers that reset on 5 April 2026, they are often small individually, but valuable when used consistently.
From 6 April 2026, dividend tax rates increase by 2 percentage points for the ordinary and upper dividend rates. This is relevant for basic and higher rate taxpayers.
What it means in practice: dividend timing is one of the few “clean” levers for owner managed businesses, but only where it is commercially supportable, properly documented, and does not create downstream issues such as cash extraction pressure, future funding needs, or problematic shareholder dynamics.
A common operational risk is trying to “do something” late in March without board process, evidence of distributable reserves, and clarity on whether a dividend is genuinely intended now (rather than being retrospectively relabelled).
Planning support: If you have an owner-managed business client with dividend flexibility, we can work alongside you to model extraction options across salary, dividends and pension contributions, and sanity-check the practical steps and documentation before implementation.
For qualifying disposals, the Business Asset Disposal Relief rate rises from 14% to 18% for disposals on or after 6 April 2026 (lifetime limit £1m of qualifying gains).
What it means: appropriately timed discussions often need to start earlier than clients expect. It is rarely as simple as “complete before 5 April”. Deals have commercial timetables, legal constraints, earn-outs, deferred consideration, and sometimes anti-avoidance sensitivities. The professional value is in modelling the delta early, then pressure-testing whether the timetable is real. At a minimum, ensure any client contemplating an exit understands the move to 18% from 6 April 2026.
Planning support: If you have a client planning an exit in the next 18 months, we can help quantify the rate delta and work with you (and the wider deal team) to test timing, structure and practical deliverability.
For new VCT subscriptions, the income tax relief rate reduces from 30% to 20% from 6 April 2026.
What it means: for clients already considering VCTs (and only where suitable), 2025/26 is the last year of 30% relief. The delivery risk is “relief chasing”: where the rate change creates momentum that runs ahead of the client's understanding of risk, liquidity, diversification and holding requirements.
Planning support: If a suitable client is already considering a VCT, we can help you frame the decision to ensure it is suitable, and ensure the client’s understanding is properly documented.
From 6 April 2026, 100% Business Relief (and Agricultural Property Relief, combined) is capped. 100% relief applies up to a £2.5m allowance (each), then 50% relief applies above that, with additional changes affecting certain not listed shares (such as AIM shares which attract 50% relief only.)
What it means: for affected families with owner-managed business interests and, in some cases, Business Relief-qualifying investments, a Business Relief planning audit will usually be worthwhile.
Planning support: If you know a family client with material Business Relief exposure (business interests or Business Relief-qualifying portfolios), we can run a focused audit and provide a practical action list you can take through with them.
These are deliberately “joined up” actions where financial planning advice, tax planning and legal implementation need to line up. In practice, the most useful support tends to be on the things that straddle tax, investment and legal - where coordination across advisers prevents gaps:
We've pulled this together as a quick reference for the conversations you're likely already triaging - feel free to adapt it for your own client reviews.
If you would like, we can turn this checklist into a short, client-specific action plan for your client: what is doable before 5 April, what should be queued for the new tax year, and what needs longer lead times.
To make the above concrete, here's how a joined-up conversation played out in practice.
A director-shareholder (higher-rate taxpayer) was considering an exit within 12–18 months and wanted to “do something” before year end. Their accountant flagged three common themes: dividend extraction, the forthcoming Business Asset Disposal Relief rate change, and family gifting.
We started with a short triage call to identify what was controllable before 5 April and what needed longer lead times, including board process, distributable reserves, evidence, and gifting documentation.
We modelled the BADR rate delta on the client’s expected qualifying gain. On a £1,000,000 BADR gain, the move from 14% to 18% implies a £40,000 difference in CGT, which helped frame timing conversations realistically. Additional-rate taxpayers are unaffected.
We reviewed whether bringing forward a dividend was commercially supportable.
We documented the governance steps and explained that a 2 percentage point dividend rate increase implies around £1,000 more dividend for a basic or higher rate taxpayer, subject to bands and allowance.
We helped the professional team tighten gifting hygiene clarifying what was intended as an unconditional gift, setting our record-keeping prompts, and identifying where further legal advice was needed.
Now to the end of March 2026
Triage, modelling and documentation lead times. This is especially important for dividends, share transfers, gifting evidence and pension contribution processing.
By 5 April 2026
Implement what is proceeding and document it properly.
Next issue
“Tax year start opportunities” (what becomes easier once the new tax year begins).
This material is for information only and does not constitute advice. Tax depends on individual circumstances and legislation and HMRC practice may change. Clients should take personal advice (and tax/legal advice where relevant) before acting. Investments and tax advantaged investments can fall as well as rise and may be illiquid; eligibility and relief depend on meeting conditions.
5 mins
A practical summary of the April 2026 Agricultural & Business Property Relief reforms (sometimes shortened to ‘Business Relief’) – and the financial-planning actions where accountants, solicitors and Rathbones financial planners can work together to deliver joined-up client outcomes.