Autumn Budget 2025: what to expect

HM Treasury has announced that the Autumn Budget will take place on 26 November 2025, and it is widely expected that there will be tax rises.

Backdrop to the Autumn Budget

The Chancellor faces a challenging economic backdrop. Growth remains sluggish, recent U-turns on welfare reform have dented anticipated spending cuts and the Treasury is committed to its two fiscal rules:

• Day-to-day spending must be matched by tax revenues, meaning the government only borrows to invest, and
• Net financial debt must fall as a share of the economy.

What tax changes might we see?

The government has pledged not to raise income tax, National Insurance, or VAT for working people, but other areas of the tax system may be targeted. A wealth tax has been ruled out repeatedly, but calls for one persist within the Labour party.

Other measures reportedly being considered include:

• Changing the inheritance tax (IHT) rules on lifetime gifting to introduce a cap or change the taper rate.
• Increasing capital gains tax (CGT) rates, with relief for investment in UK businesses.
• Reforming property taxes, such as by having new council tax bands on higher-value homes and potentially replacing stamp duty land tax (SDLT) with a new property tax.
• Charging CGT when a person sells their home for more than £1.5 million (ie they will no longer be able to claim private residence relief).
• Cutting the tax-free pension lump sum from the usual current 25% or £268,275 cap.
• Restricting the benefits of salary sacrifice for employee pension contributions.

We may also see the freeze on income tax and National Insurance thresholds extended beyond April 2028.

Depending what is announced we could see a shift towards taxing wealth and assets rather than income, which could have significant implications for estate planning, investment strategies, and property transactions.

How will Saffery be covering the Budget?

On Budget Day we’ll publish an at a glance summary of the key announcements.

The morning after the Budget:

• We’ll publish in-depth analysis on the tax changes most relevant to our clients, and
• I’ll host a webinar exploring the implications for individuals and businesses.

Sign-up for our Budget communications and webinar

Confirmed changes from April 2026 and beyond

Several reforms are already scheduled to take effect. These include:

• Changes to UK tax treatment of carried interest from 6 April 2026.
• Reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) from 6 April 2026.
• Increases in the rate of CGT on assets qualifying for Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) and Investors’ Relief from 6 April 2026.
• The rollout out of Making Tax Digital for income tax (MTD ITSA) from 6 April 2026.
• IHT being charged on undrawn pension funds and death benefits from 6 April 2027.

How we can help

We can support you with:

• Tailored advice on how the Autumn Budget 2025 may affect you or your business, and
• Guidance on the forthcoming changes to carried interest, APR, BPR, BADR, Investors’ Relief and IHT on pensions.

If you’d like to discuss any of the above, please get in touch with Adam Kay or speak to your usual Saffery contact.