Removals and Storage Compliance Calendar 2026

The calendar at a glance

April 2026

National Living Wage rose to £12.71 per hour. Applies to workers aged 21 and over.

Employer National Insurance remained at 15 per cent. Combined with the wage rise, the cost of the same crew doing the same work went up before you quoted a single job.

Statutory sick pay now starts on day one of absence, rather than day four, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. The rate is the lower of £123.25 per week or 80 per cent of average weekly earnings. The Lower Earnings Limit has also been removed, so staff who previously earned too little to qualify are now eligible.

Two consequences for a removals firm. Three days per absence that you previously did not pay for are now payable. And part-time and casual crew who were previously outside the scheme are now inside it, calculated at 80 per cent of their average weekly earnings.

The standard business rates multiplier fell from 55.5p to 48p. Most depots and warehouses saw their bill go down. The largest properties moved the other way.

Cyber Essentials requirements tightened from 27 April 2026. The technical standard moved to Requirements for IT Infrastructure v3.3 and the question set changed from Willow to Danzell. Two changes create automatic failures: where a cloud service supports multi-factor authentication and it is not enabled, and where high or critical security updates are not applied within fourteen days. The standard also introduces a formal definition of a cloud service, which cannot be excluded from scope where it stores or processes organisational data. Accounts created after 27 April 2026 use the new version; existing accounts have a six month transition. The five core controls are unchanged.

Cyber Essentials is increasingly a condition of corporate and public sector tenders, so organisations that passed previously may not pass now without action.

Making Tax Digital began for sole traders with turnover above £50,000, who now file quarterly rather than annually.

June 2026

Duty on red diesel was reduced from 15 June. Relevant to plant and off road use only. It does not apply to vehicles on the road.

July 2026

EU Mobility Package rules extended to vans over 2.5 tonnes on 1 July. This is the most significant item on this calendar for anyone doing European work.

Vehicles between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes used for international carriage in the EU now require smart tachographs, must observe lorry drivers' hours rules, and require posted worker declarations. Enforcement is at roadside stops and penalties run into four figures.

If you run 3.5 tonne vans into Europe, this applies to you, and it applies now. The full position is set out in our guide to the EU van rules for UK removals firms.

Vehicle Excise Duty for most HGVs reduced to £1 for the year. This applies to eligible vehicles exceeding 3,500kg revenue weight renewing between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027. A genuine and substantial saving that arrived with very little announcement.

Note that the HGV Levy still applies alongside it, ranging from £161 to £804 a year depending on weight band and emissions class. The £1 figure is the VED, not the total cost of taxing the vehicle.

November 2026

Companies House identity verification deadline, 18 November. Every company director and person with significant control must verify their identity. Failure to do so means the company cannot file its confirmation statement, and acting as an unverified director is a criminal offence.

There is a nuance worth knowing. For most existing directors the effective deadline is earlier than 18 November, because verification must be completed before filing the next confirmation statement. If your confirmation statement falls due in, say, June, that is your real deadline.

This affects every limited company in the trade regardless of size. A sole director of a small removals company is in exactly the same position as the board of a national group.

September 2026 to March 2027: the staged fuel duty reversal

The temporary 5p per litre fuel duty cut is being reversed in stages rather than in one step, following the announcement of 20 May 2026 which extended the freeze in response to fuel price pressure.

1 September 2026: the first 1p is added back.

1 December 2026: a further 2p is added back.

31 December 2026: the freeze period ends.

1 March 2027: the final 2p is added back, completing the reversal.

1 April 2027: RPI uprating applies.

If your day rates are set on current fuel prices, they need re-costing now rather than after the first increase lands. The total movement between August 2026 and April 2027 is the full 5p plus RPI.

January 2027

Unfair dismissal protection from six months' service. The qualifying period falls from two years to six months, and the compensation cap is removed.

The practical effect is a cliff edge. Anyone employed by early July 2026 will have six months' service on 1 January 2027 and gains protection on that day. Every later hire gains it as they reach six months.

For an industry that hires seasonally and relies on probationary periods, this is the most consequential employment change in years.

UK Sustainability Reporting Standards. The final standards, UK SRS S1 and S2, were published in February 2026 and are currently voluntary. The FCA has consulted on applying them to UK listed companies for financial years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with a policy statement expected in autumn 2026. Scope 3 disclosure is proposed on a comply or explain basis with transitional relief.

This does not apply to most removals firms directly, but it reaches them through corporate clients who cascade emissions data requests down their supply chain.

April 2027

RPI increase applied to fuel duty.

Also in 2026

The approved mileage allowance payment rate rose from 45p to 55p for the first 10,000 business miles, announced on 21 May 2026 and backdated to 6 April 2026. It is the first increase since 2011. The rate above 10,000 miles remains 25p. Motorcycles stay at 24p and bicycles at 20p. If your expenses policy still says 45p, it is out of date and costing your people money.

The HGV Levy ranges from £161 to £804 a year. The lowest rate applies to Euro 6 vehicles in the 12,000 to 31,000kg band; the highest to Euro V or earlier vehicles above 38,000kg. Daily rates are charged at two per cent of the annual rate. The levy is payable in addition to Vehicle Excise Duty, including where VED is £1.

Looking ahead to October 2027

Digital waste tracking becomes mandatory for waste carriers, brokers and dealers.

This matters to any removals firm doing office clearance work, because that work requires waste carrier registration. From October 2027, paper waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes cease to be legally acceptable and every movement must be recorded digitally.

Receiving sites come into scope earlier, from 1 October 2026. Scotland follows in January 2027.

The lead time is long but the change is structural. It is worth knowing about now rather than discovering it in the autumn of 2027.

Three things worth doing this month

Re-cost your day rates against the April wage and sick pay changes and the staged fuel duty increases from September onwards. Not in January. Now, while you are quoting work that will be delivered then. Our guide to pricing a removals job sets out the method.

Check your Companies House position and verify director identities before the November deadline rather than in the week before it.

If you do any European work, check your van weights. Anything over 2.5 tonnes crossing into the EU is now inside rules that did not apply to it eight weeks ago.

Frequently asked questions

What regulations changed for removals companies in 2026?

The main changes were the National Living Wage rise to £12.71, statutory sick pay becoming payable from day one, a business rates multiplier reduction from 55.5p to 48p, tightened Cyber Essentials requirements, Making Tax Digital for sole traders over £50,000, the extension of EU Mobility Package rules to vans over 2.5 tonnes from 1 July, and a reduction of HGV road tax to £1.

When is the Companies House identity verification deadline?

18 November 2026. Every company director must verify their identity by that date. After it, filings cannot be made and non-compliance becomes a criminal offence.

When does fuel duty go up?

In stages. The temporary 5p cut is reversed 1p from 1 September 2026, a further 2p from 1 December 2026, and the final 2p from 1 March 2027, with RPI uprating from April 2027. There is no single January 2027 increase.

What is changing in employment law in January 2027?

Unfair dismissal protection moves from two years' service to six months, and the compensation cap is removed. Anyone employed by early July 2026 will have six months' service on 1 January 2027 and gains protection that day.

What changed in Cyber Essentials in April 2026?

The technical standard moved to Requirements for IT Infrastructure v3.3 on 27 April 2026, with the question set renamed from Willow to Danzell. Two changes now cause automatic failure: multi-factor authentication not enabled where a cloud service supports it, and high or critical security updates not applied within fourteen days. A formal definition of a cloud service was also introduced.

What is the new mileage rate for 2026?

55p per mile for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, up from 45p. Above 10,000 miles the rate remains 25p. The change was announced on 21 May 2026 and backdated to 6 April 2026. It is the first increase since 2011.

Do the new EU van rules apply to UK removals firms?

Yes, if you do international work in the EU using vehicles over 2.5 tonnes gross plate weight. Since 1 July 2026 those vehicles require smart tachographs, must observe EU drivers' hours, and need posted worker declarations.

Sources and further reading

• Moovi Regulatory Review, July 2026 edition, which is the source for every figure on this page and includes the underlying references
• GOV.UK, National Living Wage rates and statutory sick pay guidance
• Companies House, identity verification requirements under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
• Employment Rights Act 2025 and associated commencement regulations
• HM Revenue and Customs, approved mileage allowance payment rates
• IASME and NCSC, Cyber Essentials Requirements for IT Infrastructure v3.3
• Defra and the Environment Agency, digital waste tracking service

Figures current as at July 2026. The next edition of the Regulatory Review is published in January 2027 and this page will be updated with it.