Autumn Budget 2026: what it actually means for you

The Autumn Budget has had its week of headlines. What matters now is the detail, and how much of it actually reaches you.

We have been through it and picked out the five changes most likely to affect our clients. The good news is that most of them do not start until April 2027, so there is time to plan rather than react.

1. Landlords and savers will pay more income tax

From April 2027, income from property and from savings will be taxed at its own set of rates: 24% for basic rate taxpayers, 44% for higher rate and 49% for additional rate.

Capital gains tax on selling a property is not changing, and stays at 18% and 24%.

If you let property, or a fair share of your income comes from savings, this is the one to look at first. It is worth knowing what next year looks like before it arrives.

2. Selling a business? The relief is being cut

Business asset disposal relief reduces the capital gains tax due when you sell all or part of a qualifying business. From 6 April 2027 the lifetime limit falls from £1m to £500k.

Alongside it, the government is consulting on a new founder’s relief. As proposed, qualifying founders and significant early investors would pay 10% on up to £10m of lifetime gains. The criteria are much stricter, though, and the consultation does not close until 30 November 2026, so the detail could still change.

If a sale is anywhere on the horizon, timing matters. Talk it through with us before anything is agreed.

3. Frozen thresholds, the Living Wage and pensioners

Income tax thresholds stay frozen and National Insurance rates are unchanged.

The National Living Wage rises by 3.9% to £13.21 an hour from 1 April 2027. If you employ people, that belongs in next year’s budget now.

If you are over state pension age, a new allowance is planned from 6 April 2027 so that no income tax is due on income of £13,037 or less, the same as the full new State Pension for 2027/28. It tapers away above that level, and it is not yet law, so there is more detail to come.

Payrolling of benefits in kind, including company cars, vans, fuel and medical insurance, still goes ahead from April 2027. If you provide any of those, your payroll needs to be ready for it.

4. Side businesses: the trading allowance triples

The trading allowance rises from £1,000 to £3,000 from April 2027. If you have a small business on the side, that could mean less tax on what it brings in.

The property allowance is unchanged.

5. Business mileage: 55p is here to stay

The 55p a mile rate for the first 10,000 business miles was brought in earlier this year as a temporary measure. The Budget has made it permanent.

From April 2027 the rate for business miles above 10,000 also rises, from 25p to 35p. That will matter most to anyone who spends a lot of the year on the road.

We covered the 55p rate when it arrived, and what we said about claiming it still stands.

What we are still waiting on

Not all of this is settled. The founder’s relief is still out to consultation, and the new allowance for pensioners has not yet been written into law. We will keep an eye on both and let clients know when the detail lands.

What to do now