BrightTax July 2026 Update: What’s New for UK Accountants 

BrightTax’s July 2026 update adds VT accounts import for self-employment returns, ten additional SA100 detail boxes, Structures and Buildings Allowance across Individual, Partnership and Corporation Tax returns, a short-life asset election, a General Notes field, and a faster default edit mode.

Here’s what each of these means for your practice.

How does VT account import work in BrightTax?

If you prepare accounts in VT Transaction+ or VT Final Accounts, you can now bring self-employment figures straight into BrightTax, rather than re-keying them by hand.

The process runs in three steps:

1. Export or copy your figures. Export final accounts as an SNF file from VT, or copy the figures directly from your accounts software.

2. Preview and check for conflicts. BrightTax shows you the mapped figures before anything is applied, and flags anything that clashes with data already on the return.

3. The figures populate the SA103. Once you confirm, BrightTax fills in the self-employment section automatically.

This is currently available for sole trader (SA103) returns. Partnership import into SA800TP is planned for a later release, so if you manage partnership clients through VT, that workflow hasn’t changed yet.

What extra detail can I add to an SA100 in BrightTax?

BrightTax now supports detailed, line-by-line breakdown entry across 26 SA100 income boxes, up from 16. That’s the same depth of entry previously only available in Bright’s desktop tax software.

Which means if you’ve been keeping itemised detail behind box totals outside BrightTax, for your own records or in case HMRC asks questions, you can now do that inside the return itself. Coverage includes bank interest, foreign dividends, pensions, incapacity benefit, and Gift Aid, among others.

How do I claim Structures and Buildings Allowance in BrightTax?

Structures and Buildings Allowance (SBA) is now available directly within BrightTax, across Individual Tax Returns, Partnership Tax Returns, and Corporation Tax returns.

The mechanics are straightforward. SBA lets you claim 3% of qualifying commercial building expenditure every year, rather than treating it as a one-off cost. A £100,000 office extension, for example, works out to around £3,000 a year in tax relief. BrightTax calculates this automatically and time-apportions it for accounting periods that aren’t exactly 12 months.

For partnerships, the allowance is calculated at partnership level and flows automatically to each partner’s individual return according to profit-sharing ratios, no manual apportionment needed.

What other improvements are included in the latest BrightTax release?

A few smaller changes round out the release:

• General Notes field. Every return type now has a free-text notes field, so your team can record handover information or client-specific instructions that stay with the return. Notes are visible to everyone with access, and never appear in anything submitted to HMRC.

• Faster edit mode. Returns now open straight into edit mode by default, removing the extra click that used to be needed on every return.

• Short-life asset election. Partnerships and individuals can now separate specific plant and machinery, typically equipment expected to be sold or scrapped within eight years, into its own capital allowances pool, making it possible to claim a balancing allowance on disposal without affecting the main pool.

Frequently asked questions about BrightTax

Find out more about BrightTax

That’s everything in this release. For the full technical detail behind each feature, see BrightTax’s release notes.

This content may have been developed with the assistance of AI tools. Content is reviewed by a member of the Bright team before publication. Guidance on legislation can be obtained from your industry body.