SEC’s Draft 2026 Taxonomies: Key Changes and What They Mean for Digital Reporting

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published its draft 2026 taxonomies on September 12, 2025, continuing its annual cycle of updates to the XBRL taxonomies required for EDGAR filings. These taxonomies are the foundation of structured digital reporting, dictating how companies, funds, and other registrants tag their disclosures in a machine-readable format.

The draft release is open for public comment until November 12, 2025, giving filers and stakeholders an opportunity to review and provide feedback. Once finalized, both the 2026 and 2025 versions will be accepted in EDGAR, with older versions gradually phased out.

This blog provides a detailed, verifiable summary of changes in the SEC draft release notes 2026 and explains how filers can prepare with the help of automation and intelligent reporting solutions.

Overview of the 2026 Draft Taxonomies

The SEC currently maintains 19 taxonomies that cover diverse disclosure areas: corporate entity information, executive compensation, funds, insurance products, exchanges, and more.

In this draft release, the SEC introduced:

1. Additions: New elements, codes, and identifiers.
2. Modifications: Label updates, code changes, role reassignments.
3. Deletions: Removal of deprecated items no longer valid.

A key rule reiterated:

All taxonomies referenced in a filing must use the same version year.

This means filers cannot mix 2025 and 2026 elements within a single submission, though quarterly releases (e.g., 2025q3) are compatible within a given year

Specific Changes in the 2026 Draft

Below is a taxonomy-by-taxonomy summary of changes based on the official release notes

1. Closed-End (CEF): No changes.
2. Countries (COUNTRY): Updated to ISO 3166 (taxonomy content is the same as 2025).
3. Currencies (CURRENCY): Updated with ISO 4217 standard. Major update — ZWL deleted; ANG and CUC deprecated; XAD and XCG added.
4. Cybersecurity Disclosure (CYD): No changes.
5. Document & Entity Information (DEI): No changes.
6. Executive Compensation Disclosure (ECD): No changes.
7. Filing Fee Disclosure (FFD): The FFD 2026 taxonomy retains the same element names and data types as the FFD 2025 taxonomy. However, four concepts are being shifted from the definition and presentation links in one role to another. This change is equivalent from a validation perspective and impacts only the order in which the facts are displayed.
8. Fund (FND): No changes.
9. NAICS: No changes.
10. Open-End Fund (OEF): Minor cleanup of reference lines.
11. Resource Extraction Payments (RXP): No changes.
12. Security-Based Swap (SBS): No changes.
13. Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO): No changes.
14. Sub-National Jurisdictions (SNJ): ISO 3166-2 alignment; 60 domain Item Type elements deleted (Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, etc.).
15. SPAC: Significant changes carried forward from 2025q3 — 2 per-share and 1 Monetary element deprecated; new 19 elements added.
16. SIC: No changes.
17. State-Province (STPR): No changes.
18. VIP (Variable Insurance Products): Two percent Item Type elements deprecated; multiple new fee/expense disclosure elements added with references to Forms N-3, N-4, N-6.
19. Exchanges (EXCH): Largest set of updates — over 40 deletions, multiple deprecated/modified concepts, label and city updates, and a wide range of new exchange concepts (including digital asset/crypto platforms such as Bitstamp, Kraken, Perpetual Markets, Vamos, and others).
    

What These Changes Mean for Filers

The draft 2026 taxonomies represent more than routine updates. They affect how companies and funds prepare, validate, and submit filings:

1. Currency updates mean financial data must align with the latest ISO 4217 codes.
2. Exchange code refreshes highlight the SEC’s effort to capture fast-changing global markets, including digital asset platforms.
3. SPAC and VIP changes reflect evolving SEC disclosure priorities in complex financial instruments and insurance products.
4. Jurisdiction updates ensure geographic identifiers remain globally standardized.

For filers, the impact is clear: mapping, validation, and version control must be carefully managed to avoid errors and rejections in EDGAR.

How EZ-XBRL Helps Filers Navigate Taxonomy Updates

At EZ-XBRL, we recognize that taxonomy updates can quickly become overwhelming. Manual mapping and validation consume time, increase risk, and often delay reporting. Our platform is built to ensure a smooth transition whenever the SEC updates its taxonomies.

Here’s how EZ-XBRL directly addresses the 2026 draft changes:

1. Automatic Taxonomy Updates

As soon as the SEC releases draft or final taxonomies, Ez-XBRL team researches on the new taxonomy & incorporate new changes to the platform

2. Smart Mapping and Deprecation Handling

1. Deprecated codes like ANG and CUC in the Currency taxonomy are automatically flagged.
2. New elements such as XAD and XCG are suggested as replacements where relevant.
3. For SPAC and VIP taxonomies, the platform guides users through new requirements, reducing guesswork.
   

3. Multi-Version Support

Both 2025 and 2026 versions will be accepted in EDGAR. EZ-XBRL allows filers to manage filings across multiple taxonomy versions, ensuring prior-year submissions remain valid.

4. Validation and Error Checking

Built-in validation engines test filings against the official SEC schemas, flagging:

1. Deprecated or invalid elements.
2. Role assignment changes (such as FFD table role shifts).
3. Misaligned jurisdiction or exchange codes.
   

5. Coverage of All Taxonomies

From funds (OEF, FND) to insurance products (VIP) to exchange identifiers (EXCH), EZ-XBRL keeps all 19 SEC taxonomies up to date, so filers never have to worry about missing a detail buried in release notes.

6. Audit Trail and Transparency

Every change — whether element deletion, addition, or modification — is logged in EZ-XBRL, providing compliance teams with a full audit trail.

Next Steps: How to prepare for this change?

The comment window closes November 12, 2025, and the SEC will begin accepting 2026 taxonomies in EDGAR in early 2026.

Filers should:

1. Download and review the draft taxonomies.
2. Test existing filings against the 2026 versions.
3. Submit comments where changes pose practical challenges.
4. Partner with technology providers like EZ-XBRL to ensure a seamless transition.
   

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q1. When will the SEC begin accepting the 2026 taxonomies?
The SEC will announce when EDGAR begins accepting the 2026 versions. As in prior years, there will be a transition period where both 2025 and 2026 versions are accepted

Q2. Can I mix 2025 and 2026 taxonomy elements in the same filing?
No. All standard taxonomies referenced in a filing must use the same version year. Quarterly releases within a year (e.g., 2025q3) are compatible, but cross-year mixing is not

Q3. What happens if I use a deprecated element?
If you use an element that is deprecated in the 2026 taxonomy (e.g., CUC – Cuban Convertible Peso), EDGAR may reject the filing. EZ-XBRL flags these in advance and recommends valid replacements.

Q4. Which taxonomy saw the biggest changes in 2026?
The Exchanges (EXCH) taxonomy saw the most extensive updates, with dozens of deletions, modifications, and additions to align with ISO 10383 standards, including many new codes for digital and crypto exchanges

Q5. How does EZ-XBRL help with multi-version support?
EZ-XBRL enables filers to manage both 2025 and 2026 filings in parallel, automatically validating against the appropriate schema and ensuring prior-year filings remain compliant.

Q6. Do I need to act before November 12, 2025?
Yes, if you want to provide feedback to the SEC. The comment period closes on that date. Otherwise, you can begin preparing now by testing your filings against the draft taxonomy in EZ-XBRL.

Conclusion

The SEC’s Draft 2026 Taxonomies combine stability with significant targeted changes. While many taxonomies remain unchanged, updates to Currencies, Sub-National Jurisdictions, SPAC, VIP, and especially Exchanges demand attention.

For filers, the task is not only about compliance but also about efficiency. By using EZ-XBRL’s automated taxonomy updates, smart mapping, validation tools, and version control, companies can confidently adapt to these changes without disruption.

The future of reporting is structured, precise, and increasingly complex — but with the right tools, it doesn’t have to be burdensome.

Request a Demo today and see how we can help your reporting stay future-proof.