31 March 2026 
Julia Ascott, Employment taxes specialist
From 6 April 2026, significant new legislation comes into force that affects all organisations engaging workers through umbrella companies. The reforms introduce a strict joint and several liability regime, giving HMRC the power to recover unpaid PAYE and NICs from multiple parties within a labour supply chain, even where those parties were not responsible for the non-compliance.
Universities will need to discover the extent to which they directly engage with umbrella companies (and purported umbrella companies), and create appropriate procedures and policies to ensure compliance.
To assist our members with navigating these new rules, we have prepared numerous guidance documents below, depending on the audience, as follows:
For all employees to raise awareness of the new rules:
For Tax, HR and Procurement teams:
