ICAEW.com works better with JavaScript enabled.

Autumn Budget 2025

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget on 26 November. Read ICAEW's reaction and analysis.

Contents
Back to top
Rachel Reeves ahead of delivering her Budget on 26 November. Photo: Simon Walker / HM Treasury
Two mechanics half out of frame inspecting on an old card and checking a list.
Person working on laptop with a pink piggy bank alongside
Image with hands calculator graphs and small toy house
Insights

Businesses dodge tax bullet, but costs will rise

Chancellor delivered raft of small tax changes, rather than big tax increases, but the Budget offered few reasons to be cheerful.
Read more
Insights

Personal allowance frozen

The personal allowance is to remain at £12,570 for another three years until April 2031.
Read more
Tax

NICs and salary sacrifice pension

From April 2029 NICs must be paid if the amount of salary sacrificed for pension contributions exceeds £2,000.
Read more
Tax

Property, savings and dividends taxes

Income tax on savings, property and dividend is set to increase and £2m homes to face new council tax surcharge.
Read more

Budget reaction

Budget: Are capital markets-boosting measures effective?
  • Article
  • 01 Dec 2025
The Chancellor included two measures designed to encourage more UK listings and investment in UK public markets.
Understanding the economic implications of the Budget
  • Article
  • 28 Nov 2025
Economic update: ICAEW’s Economies Director Suren Thiru discusses the implications of the Budget, what you need to know about current economic conditions and key points to watch.
Member reaction to the Budget: ‘Nothing for growth’
  • Article
  • 28 Nov 2025
ICAEW members deliver a muted response to the Chancellor’s raft of announcements, but express relief that there were no unexpected surprises for business.
Budget: businesses dodge tax bullet, but costs will still bite
  • Article
  • 26 Nov 2025
The Chancellor delivered a raft of small tax changes, rather than any big tax increases. But despite no increases in business taxes, the Budget offered few reasons to be cheerful.

Tax insights

Budget 2025 announcements you may have missed
  • Article
  • 02 Dec 2025
ICAEW’s Tax Faculty provides a summary of some of the Autumn Budget 2025 measures that didn’t make the headlines, from changes to tax relief for homeworkers to proposals for companies to report payments made to participators.
Budget: New loan charge settlement opportunity
  • Article
  • 02 Dec 2025
The government has said it will accept almost all of Ray McCann’s recommendations for a new settlement opportunity and go further by writing off the first £5,000 of debt, in the hope that this will give individuals “a path to resolution”.
Budget: Further changes made to CGT, IHT and residence rules
  • Article
  • 27 Nov 2025
The Chancellor announced a number of changes to capital gains tax (CGT), inheritance tax (IHT) and the residence-based tax regime , including a change in the rules for disposals to employee ownership trusts (EOTs), effective immediately.
Budget: Key changes to income tax administration, payments and penalties
  • Article
  • 27 Nov 2025
Easements for Making Tax Digital (MTD) for income tax, penalty reform announcements and changes to self assessment payments.
Budget: Freeze on personal allowance extended
  • Article
  • 26 Nov 2025
The Chancellor extended the period during which the personal allowance will be set at £12,570 and the higher rate threshold at £50,270 by three years, until April 2031. The amounts have been frozen since April 2021.
Budget: Taxes on property, savings and dividends increased
  • Article
  • 26 Nov 2025
The rates of income tax on savings, property and dividend income will increase by two percentage points and owners of high value homes will face a new council tax surcharge.
Budget: NIC saving on salary sacrifice pension contributions capped
  • Article
  • 26 Nov 2025
At the Autumn Budget 2025, the government announced that employers and employees will be required to pay national insurance contributions (NIC) from April 2029 if the amount of salary sacrificed for pension contributions exceeds £2,000.
Budget: Key changes impacting business taxation
  • Article
  • 26 Nov 2025
ICAEW’s Tax Faculty provides a summary of some of the changes affecting businesses announced at the Budget, including capital allowances and business rates as well as adjustments to penalty rates for late corporation tax filings and increasing the limits for venture capital reliefs.
Read more

Budget podcasts

Budget 25: Do the tax changes meet the tenets?
  • Podcast
  • 01 Dec 2025
In this episode, we rate the Budget against ICAEW’s ten tenets for a better tax system, focusing on the government’s decision to freeze the personal allowance and tax thresholds for an additional three years, the new tax on electric vehicles and changes to the NIC treatment of salary sacrificed pension contributions.
Budget 25: where’s the growth?
  • Podcast
  • 01 Dec 2025
This episode is all about the Budget. What was in it? What are the implications? Was there anything positive to glean from it?

Autumn Budget webinar

The Chancellor delivered the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025, accompanied by a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In this webinar on 28 November, the Tax Faculty discussed the key tax updates and shared insight and analysis about how these changes may affect you or your clients.

Watch the recording
Tax

Pre-budget analysis

Budget: ‘change course or stifle growth’ say ICAEW members
  • Article
  • 21 Nov 2025
Survey of ICAEW Chartered Accountants reveals strong need for certainty and clarity on tax from the Chancellor in next week’s Budget.
Reforming VAT could raise £80bn a year, says ICAEW
  • Article
  • 21 Nov 2025
ICAEW is urging the government to consider a single rate of VAT with minimal exemptions. Such reforms will make it simpler to do business and generate billions for the UK economy.
Budget: why the government should reform business rates
  • Article
  • 12 Nov 2025
The Chancellor should use this month’s Budget to push ahead with planned reforms of the “poorly designed” business rates system, says ICAEW.
The Chancellor’s speech: can Reeves deliver growth and raise taxes?
  • Article
  • 05 Nov 2025
If business tax rises are inevitable, they must at least be phased in over time if we don’t want to stifle growth, says ICAEW.
House of Lords highlights concerns with Finance Bill legislation
  • Article
  • 03 Nov 2025
Having heard evidence on the draft legislation for Finance Bill 2025-26, including legislation providing for IHT reform, the House of Lords has questioned the government on its proposals to clamp down on promoters of tax avoidance schemes.
Economic update: why the Budget is casting a long shadow over the UK economy
  • Article
  • 24 Oct 2025
The UK economy struggles to grow in October. Business confidence continues to fall amid record high concerns over tax ahead of next month’s Budget. ICAEW’s Economies Director Suren Thiru discusses the implications, what you need to know about current economic conditions and key points to watch.
Government deficit hits £100bn in the first half of the financial year
  • Article
  • 22 Oct 2025
Revisions and corrections help reduce the budget overrun to £7bn for the six months to September 2025, but the outlook remains bleak.
Jobs and investment at risk if business taxes increase, warns ICAEW
  • Article
  • 17 Oct 2025
More than half of business leaders surveyed by ICAEW said they would freeze recruitment or cut roles if the Chancellor announces tax increases next month.
Read ICAEW's Budget submission

Business Confidence Monitor

Business confidence hits three-year low
  • Article
A record 60% of firms are worried about the tax burden, a tenfold increase over the last five years, according to ICAEW’s latest Business Confidence Monitor.
ICAEW Business Confidence Monitor
  • Hub page
Quarterly reports on the economy which provide useful insight for finance professionals and their clients.
UK Business Confidence Monitor: National
  • Report
The latest national Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) shows that business sentiment deteriorated further into negative territory in Q3 2025. This increased pessimism is underpinned by elevated concern over the tax burden as well as above-average inflation, and weak domestic and exports sales growth eroding businesses’ profit margins.

Charts

Chart of the week: Autumn Budget 2025
  • Article
  • 27 Nov 2025
Our chart this week looks at how the Chancellor used tax rises to refill and increase her budget headroom after forecast revisions and spending increases eliminated the projected current budget surplus for 2029/30.
Chart of the week: Controlling for debt
  • Article
  • 21 Nov 2025
Our chart this week shows how the high level of public debt is the main factor shaping next week’s Autumn Budget.
Chart of the week: A big Autumn Budget hole to fill?
  • Article
  • 14 Nov 2025
Our chart this week takes a look at the £40bn ‘hole’ in the public finances that the Chancellor may have to fill when she presents the Autumn Budget 2025 to Parliament on Wednesday 26 November.
Chart of the week: tax burden rising
  • Article
  • 17 Oct 2025
Our chart this week shows how tax receipts as a proportion of national income have risen significantly since the turn of the century, begging the question as to whether taxes are too high or the UK economy is too small?
Chart of the week: the cost of (government) borrowing
  • Article
  • 10 Oct 2025
Our chart this week looks at the cost of government borrowing by country based on 10-year government bond yields.
Chart of the week: GDP revisions
  • Article
  • 03 Oct 2025
Our chart this week looks at how a large upward revision in GDP for 2024/25 translates into a relatively modest 0.1 percentage point increase in economic growth per year since the pandemic.

Economy explainers

Economy explainers: what is income tax?
  • Helpsheets and support
  • 07 Nov 2025
Income tax is a common topic for pre-Budget speculation. ICAEW experts explain why income tax is important, how it is calculated and what is meant by "fiscal drag".
Economy explainers: how is property taxed?
  • Article
  • 23 Oct 2025
Taxes on transactions in, and income from, land and buildings are a frequent topic for pre-Budget speculation. ICAEW’s Tax Faculty explains the rules currently in place for taxing property.
Economy explainers: what is VAT?
  • Article
  • 17 Oct 2025
Did you know that £1 in every £5 of tax collected by the government is VAT? ICAEW’s Tax Faculty explains how VAT works, the problems with the current system and what could be done to improve it.
Economy explainers: e-invoicing
  • Article
  • 16 Oct 2025
The UK government is considering how to promote the wider use of e-invoicing across businesses and government departments. ICAEW's experts explain what it is and its implications for businesses.

Backing business-led growth

Drawing on members expertise and our research, ICAEW is offering policymakers advice on how to tackle the three key barriers to growth.

Recommendations

Further resources

Resources
Sterling coins and banknotes
Economy

Expert analysis on the latest national and international economic issues and trends, and interviews with prominent voices across the finance industry alongside data on the state of economy.

Visit the hub
Resources
Analysis from ICAEW's experts on the Autumn Budget 2021 and the comprehensive spending review published on 27 October 2021.
Economy explainers

ICAEW experts offer simple guides to help understand the technical, economic jargon that is discussed when talking about public finances and the economy.

Find out more
Policy and public affairs
Meeting in an office around a desk
Developing policy in the public interest

See the latest work from ICAEW's Public Affairs and Policy Teams to influence policy in the public interest. Read news and insights relating to our political engagement work at a regional, national and international level.

Find out more