On 26th November 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, delivered her Autumn Budget, outlining the government’s latest plans for the economy.
We’ve pulled together the key announcements and what they could mean for individuals and businesses.
Here’s a breakdown of what we know so far:
Salary sacrifice changes
Salary-sacrificed pension contributions above £2,000 per year will no longer be exempt from National Insurance.
This change is set to take effect from April 2029, increasing NIC costs for both employees and employers using higher levels of salary sacrifice.
ISA allowance update
From April 2027, the overall ISA allowance will remain at £20,000, but with a new cap:
Up to £12,000 may be held in cash for savers under 65
The remaining £8,000 must be invested in stocks and shares
National Minimum wage increase
From April 2026, the National Minimum Wage will rise to £12,71 per hour. This represents a 4.1% increase for employees and an estimated additional £1,200 cost per employee for businesses in the 2026/27 tax year.
Income tax threshold freeze extended
The ongoing freeze on income tax thresholds has been extended by a further three years, now running until April 2031.
This will gradually pull more individuals into higher tax bands as earnings grow.
Dividend, property, and savings increase
Taxes on dividends, property income, and savings income will increase by 2 percentage points, raising an estimated £2.1 billion in revenue.
New tax on high-value homes
A new ‘high value council tax surcharge’ will apply to residential properties worth over £2 million.
A significant change to the property tax landscape for high-value owners.
Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs) capital gains tax reform
Changes to capital gains tax for Employee Ownership Trusts (tax relief on companies owned by employees) aim to raise around £900 million, with the CGT rate reducing from 100% to 50%.
NHS technology and new health centres
The budget commits £300 million to improve NHS technology, alongside the creation of 250 new neighborhood health centres, including one in Truro!
Writing down allowance cut will hit businesses looking to invest
The main rate of writing down allowance cut to 14% from April 2026, and 40% first-year allowance introduced from January 2026.
From April 2026 the main rate writing-down allowances for corporation tax and income tax will be reduced from 18% to 14%.
Rachel Reeves has confirmed the government will decrease the main rate of writing down allowances due to the ‘need to incentivise future investment and encourage growth in the UK economy’.
The measure reduces the rate of writing-down allowance (WDA) on the main pool of plant and machinery from 18% to 14% per year which still enables full relief for the expenditure.
A first-year allowance of 40% for main‑rate assets will also be introduced from the new year, but cars, second-hand assets, and assets for leasing overseas will not be eligible.
What does this mean: by reducing the annual ongoing tax relief that businesses can claim on assets owned by the company, the government hope people will replace plant & machinery more frequently to be able to take advantage of the high tax reliefs for new assets. This in turns creates more spending and investment within businesses.
As always, if you have any questions about the above, we’re here to help.
You can call us on 01872 267 267, email us [email protected], or message us via WhatsApp (0777 49 39 111) or our socials (@whyfield).
We will update this page as further guidance is released.
