FRC maps next steps for UK digital taxonomy overhaul
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has set out the direction of travel for the next phase of the UK’s digital reporting infrastructure, publishing a feedback statement on proposed technical changes to the UK and Irish Digital Reporting Taxonomy Suite.
The proposals, outlined in a discussion paper released in November 2025, explored how the architecture of the taxonomies underpinning digital financial reporting could evolve to better support usability, scalability and long-term technical integrity.
The consultation examined several technical enhancements designed to support that goal. Among them were proposals to replace legacy data types with Extensible Enumerations to better align with international XBRL specifications; introduce the XBRL Formula linkbase to embed validation rules directly in the taxonomy; and expand the use of typed dimensions to better represent complex reporting structures.
Feedback was largely supportive, with respondents highlighting the importance of maintaining global comparability by aligning UK taxonomy modelling with international XBRL specifications, and strongly supporting embedding validation rules in the taxonomy to improve data quality.
The FRC received four detailed written responses. Given the technical nature of the proposals, the issues were also discussed extensively with the XBRL Technical Task Force and during technical forums with vendors. Consultation feedback will inform the ongoing strategic development of the UK Taxonomy project, as regulators continue to refine the technical foundations of the country’s digital reporting regime.
Read the feedback statement here.
