Chancellor John Healey delivered his first UK Autumn Budget on the 28th of October 2026.

There was some good news. The £100 energy payment for eligible households (council bands A – D) is a welcome relief. Standing charges for gas will be removed so all households should see some reduction in their utility bills.

The trading allowance increased from £1,000 to £3,000 which is good news for anyone brave enough to give business a try. In reality, it mostly helps those who have side hustles in addition to PAYE jobs. They can stay out of the self assessment system and not pay tax or national insurance (less administrative burden).

The previous Budget had outlined a drop to Cash ISA deposit limit of £12,000 for those under 67. This has been scrapped and the current Cash ISA deposit limit per tax year, of £20,000 for everyone, remains in place.

Also, if you are 18-20 and earning minimum wage, from April 2027 your pay will increase by 3.9%. They also announced the Young Entrepreneurs Allowance, to encourage young people to get into business by partially covering your living costs in the first year your business is operating. In an economy where it is difficult for young people to find work, a lot of great businesses will start as a result of this initiative. It will be interesting to see how ‘partial living cost’ is defined as.

For current business owners, landlords and savers, it was yet another budget of increases in tax.  

If you are looking to sell your business,  the Business Asset Disposal Relief (“BADR”) lifetime limit falls from £1 million to £500,000 from April 2027. This allows your business proceeds to be taxed at a lower rate of capital gains (currently 18%). A proposed Founders Relief offers 10% tax on up to £10 million of qualifying gains, but eligibility matters. Most founders are not eligible and initial estimates are that 600 founders will be benefit from this.

Currently, savers and landlords are taxed 20%, 40% and 45% on this type of income depending on your tax band. In the last Budget, a 2% increase from the 6th of April 2027 was announced. In this one, a further 2% increase was applied meaning that this type of income goes up by 4% from the 6th of April 2027. This is not good news for those who rent as most landlords will be forced to pass part of this tax increase on through increased rent.

More frequent tax payments are planned to take place from April 2029. We would expect those businesses in Making Tax Digital will move to quarterly payments however there has been talk that all self assessment participants could move to monthly tax payments, with the government taking no consideration for the administration burden of this.

As a small business owner, I was disappointed with the reduction in BADR as it stifles business growth. I also wanted to see real financial assistance given to small businesses who want to employ young people. Five years ago, it cost £6.56 an hour to hire a 18 to 20 year old. From April 2027, it will cost £11.27.  An extra £4.71 an hour. No one is saying people this age should not be paid this, but what is the government doing to create the jobs for people in this bracket to even apply for?

What are your thoughts on the Autumn Budget?