Tax year end planning beyond the deadline | IFAM 146 | March 2026

Tax year end… more than a deadline dash

As you’ll see across this issue, 5 April isn’t just a deadline anymore. Reliefs are shifting. Pensions are edging into estates. Operational pressure is building. And advisers are being pulled into more strategic, forward-looking conversations than ever before.

Before we get into all the tax year end tension, we open with Brooks Macdonald, exploring how the MPS market continues to evolve and why operational efficiency and strong, centralised investment processes matter more than ever in a Consumer Duty world.

Tax year end, step by step

From there, we move firmly into our cover feature and the theme dominating firms across the country: tax year end.

Making Tax Digital is no longer something for “later”. BDO’s piece is a timely reminder that landlords and sole traders earning over £50,000 will soon face quarterly reporting requirements, and many still don’t realise they’re already in scope.

Royal London makes the case for not giving up on salary sacrifice. Even with the NI cap coming in from 2029, its planning value remains significant. Standard Life revisits onshore bonds and explains why they’re returning to prominence as part of estate planning strategies. Aviva follows with a practical guide to pension allowances, tapering and carry forward.

Charles Russell Speechlys examines the revised £2.5 million Business Property Relief allowance and why planning before April 2026 still matters. M&G focuses on pensions moving into estates from April 2027 and the risk of double taxation if advisers delay action. Then Charles Stanley explores why ISA season is no longer just about using allowances, but about what happens after clients subscribe.

Alongside this, I explore why estate planning before tax year end should be about building repeatable habits, not frantic box-ticking.

We also bring together expert insight on VCTs, Business Relief and what genuinely needs prioritising before 5 April. For those wanting to go deeper, our 2026 Tax-Efficient Investment Insights report is available to download: https://ifamagazine.com/2026-tax-efficient-investment-insights/. 

Running the business, not just the plans

In Better Business, the focus shifts to how advice firms operate. Dynamic Planner looks at smarter onboarding and digital fact-finding to unlock adviser capacity and improve client engagement. Dorsum explores how digital transformation can fail, and how to get it right. Katie Brinsden at Truly Independent shares a timely piece, ahead of International Women’s Day on 8 March, on women succeeding in the advice profession.

Property, mortgages and affordability

Key Partnerships examines the intensifying first-time buyer mortgage price war and the growing role of the Bank of Family. Atom Bank argues that better use of technology could finally speed up the homebuying process. And Rightmove’s latest HPI shows prices standing still in February, still the strongest start to a year since 2020, but with affordability dynamics continuing to shift.

And finally…

You’ll also find our latest IFA Talk podcast roundup, because some of the best ideas land between meetings, with headphones on.

Tax year end is rarely easy, but this one feels particularly compressed, with the Easter weekend making the cut-off less forgiving than usual. We hope this edition of IFA Magazine helps support advisers through a demanding time of year and shows, once again, where good advice really proves its value.

Jenny Hunter
Deputy Editor, IFA Magazine