The next UK Budget is on Wednesday 28 October 2026. The date was confirmed in August, when the Treasury commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility to prepare the accompanying forecast, and it comes earlier in the autumn than recent years — 2025's Budget fell on 26 November. It will be the first Budget delivered by John Healey, who became Chancellor in the summer reshuffle that followed Andy Burnham's arrival in Downing Street.
The speech itself follows a familiar rhythm: Prime Minister's Questions at noon, the Chancellor on his feet at around 12:30pm, an hour or so of announcements, and the OBR's economic and fiscal outlook published the moment he sits down. The tax detail that actually matters tends to surface over the following 48 hours, in the Budget documents and the draft Finance Bill clauses, which is why the day-two analysis is usually worth more than the day-one headlines.
Why this one matters more than most
Budgets are always billed as pivotal; this one has a better claim than usual. It is a new Chancellor's first fiscal event, delivered into bond markets that have reportedly cut his room for manoeuvre substantially since the spring, and it follows a change of Prime Minister whose stated instinct is to tax wealth more heavily relative to work. First Budgets set direction — and businesses and advisers will be reading this one for the government's revealed priorities, not just the rate tables.
What last year's Budget already set in motion
Part of planning for October is remembering what last year's Budget already set in motion. One status note before the list: these measures sit at different stages — most are enacted through the 2026 Finance Act, while the later-dated ones rest on announced policy still completing its legislative journey, so check the current instrument before acting on any single item. The November 2025 Budget's tail (rates and thresholds shown are the rUK position; Scotland sets its own non-savings income tax rates):
- Threshold freeze to 2031 — the personal allowance (£12,570), higher-rate threshold (£50,270) and additional-rate threshold (£125,140) stay frozen, pulling more income into higher bands every year without a single rate rising.
- Dividend tax up 2 points from April 2026 — the ordinary rate is now 10.75%, a real cost for owner-managers deciding between salary and dividends.
- Property and savings income rates rise 2 points from April 2027 — landlords will pay 22%, 42% or 47% on rental profits.
- Business Asset Disposal Relief at 18% from April 2026, continuing its climb from 10% two years earlier.
- A high-value council tax surcharge on English homes worth £2 million or more from April 2028 — £2,500 to £7,500 a year, the "mansion tax" in its eventual form.
- Pension salary sacrifice capped from April 2029 — NIC relief limited to £2,000 of sacrificed contributions a year, a significant change to the default remuneration planning of the last decade.
- Cash ISA allowance cut to £12,000 for under-65s from April 2027.
Several of those have planning windows that close over the next 18 months. The salary sacrifice cap alone is worth a conversation with anyone making large pension contributions through payroll — the current uncapped NIC treatment runs to April 2029, and front-loading contributions before then is the natural response for those whose annual allowance, carry-forward position and cash flow support it (the cap limits NIC relief, not the right to contribute).
What is being speculated for 28 October — and what that is worth
Treat everything in this section as speculation; we will update this page when the red book is real. The recurring themes from the professional firms and the Institute for Fiscal Studies ahead of this Budget:
- Capital gains tax — the new government's "tax wealth, not work" framing puts CGT rates and reliefs at the top of most prediction lists. Anyone already planning a business sale or large disposal has an argument for crystallising sooner rather than waiting to find out.
- Inheritance tax reliefs — the April 2026 cap on agricultural and business relief (100% relief now limited to a £2.5 million allowance) is reportedly still being revisited, with farming groups pressing for further softening.
- Property taxation — reform beyond the 2028 surcharge remains live, from council tax revaluation to the perennial SDLT redesign.
- More fiscal drag — extending freezes is the quiet lever every Chancellor reaches for; the 2031 freeze could yet grow longer.
- The manifesto floor — the pledge not to raise income tax rates, employee NIC or VAT is still expected to hold, which is precisely why the pressure lands everywhere else.
Our standing advice ahead of any Budget: act on announced law, position for direction of travel, and never execute irreversible planning on a rumour. The gap between "trailed in the press" and "in the Finance Bill" swallows a lot of expensive mistakes.
How Budget measures actually take effect
Not everything starts on Budget day. Rate changes on duties can apply from 6pm that evening under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act; most income and corporation tax measures start the following April; structural reforms typically arrive with a year or more of lead time and a consultation in between. The Finance Bill that follows the Budget is where announcements become law — and where details quietly change. Anti-forestalling rules, which stop people racing transactions through before a pre-announced change bites, have also become standard practice, as sellers discovered with the BADR rate rises.
Between now and 28 October
The useful preparation is unglamorous: know your own numbers before the Chancellor stands up. Owner-managers should have their dividend and remuneration planning current, anyone contemplating a disposal should understand their CGT position under today's rules, and estates relying on business or agricultural relief should already be reviewing the £2.5 million allowance rules that took effect in April. Then October's announcements land against a baseline, not a blank page.
We publish our summary on Budget day and follow with sector notes once the Finance Bill detail is out — our Autumn Budget 2025 summary shows the format. For planning conversations that should not wait for October, start with our tax planning team.