Autumn Budget 2026:
What Was Announced

What was announced in the Autumn Budget 2026?

Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday 28 October 2026, after Prime Minister's Questions. HM Treasury published the Budget document and HMRC's overview of tax legislation and rates the same afternoon, and the Office for Budget Responsibility published its Economic and fiscal outlook. The Treasury describes the package as rejecting broad-based tax rises and instead asking for “an additional contribution from those with taxable income from assets”.

That framing is the key to reading it. Taxes on earnings are left alone; taxes on income from savings and property go up a second time, on top of the two-point rise already legislated after Budget 2025. The Treasury says 84% of income tax payers are unaffected and that around half the revenue comes from the top 10% of households. For most savers the protection is the ISA — which is why reversing the Cash ISA cut is the other half of the same decision.

This page was rewritten on Budget day from "what is confirmed going in" to "what was announced". Anything not in the published Budget documents is left out.

Every personal-finance measure in the Budget

Effective dates matter more than headline rates: almost everything below starts in a future tax year, and two measures start within days of the Budget.

Sources: HM Treasury, Budget 2026 (HC 726); HMRC, Budget 2026: Overview of tax legislation and rates and Annex A; HM Treasury press release, all 28 October 2026. Property income rates apply in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland sets its own income tax bands.

Savings interest: taxed at 24%, 44% or 49% from April 2027

Savings income now has its own set of income tax rates. For 2026-27 they are the same as the main rates (20%, 40%, 45%). Budget 2025 had already legislated a rise to 22%, 42% and 47% from 6 April 2027; this Budget adds two more points, so from that date interest is taxed at 24% for basic-rate, 44% for higher-rate and 49% for additional-rate taxpayers. The Personal Savings Allowance (£1,000 basic, £500 higher, none for additional-rate) and the £5,000 starting rate for savings are unchanged.

A worked example: a higher-rate taxpayer with £30,000 in an easy-access account at 4% earns £1,200 of interest. After the £500 allowance, £700 is taxable — £280 at today's 40%, £308 at 44% from April 2027. The Treasury says a basic-rate taxpayer would need over £25,000 of savings outside an ISA before paying any tax at all. Anything held in an ISA stays tax-free.

Savings interest tax calculator →

The Cash ISA cut is reversed

The government “has decided not to reduce the cash ISA limit, so that it remains at £20,000” (Budget 2026, paragraph 3.9). HMRC's overview says the limit is retained at £20,000 for all savers aged 18 and over from April 2027, and that the change will be made by secondary legislation laid before Parliament in November 2026. The £12,000 cap for under-65s had been made law by SI 2026/1018 on 10 September 2026, so until the new regulations are made it remains on the statute book — but it no longer reflects government policy.

The cap came with anti-circumvention rules: a charge on interest from cash held inside a Stocks & Shares ISA, and a block on transfers into a Cash ISA. The Budget documents do not set those out separately, and HMRC withdrew its anti-circumvention factsheet on 28 October. The November regulations will confirm the detail; until then, the overall £20,000 allowance and today's rules are what apply.

Two Lifetime ISA changes were announced. From 29 October 2026, a first-time buyer purchasing a home above the £450,000 price cap can use their Lifetime ISA with a 20% withdrawal charge instead of 25% — which protects the saver's own contributions instead of eating into them. Other unauthorised withdrawals stay at 25%. From April 2029 a new First Time Buyer ISA replaces the Lifetime ISA for new savers: up to £4,000 a year, a 25% bonus paid on the account balance when it is used for a first home worth up to £450,000, and no upper age limit. Existing Lifetime ISA holders can keep using their accounts. The government will also work with industry on a new incentive for people opening a Stocks & Shares ISA for the first time; no design has been published.

Cash ISA allowance calculator → · Lifetime ISA calculator →

Pensions: a new allowance for pensioners, no change to tax relief

The Pension Tax Allowance applies from 6 April 2027 to 5 April 2030 to people over State Pension age. If total income from all sources is at or below the value of the full new State Pension — £13,037 for 2027-28 — no income tax is due. It is worth 20% of the gap between the full new State Pension and the £12,570 Personal Allowance, and is withdrawn by £1 for every £3 of income above £13,037, disappearing at £13,319. The government says around 500,000 pensioners benefit in 2027-28.

Pension tax relief and the tax-free lump sum were not changed. The annual allowance stays £60,000, the money purchase annual allowance £10,000, and the tax-free lump sum remains 25% of a pot up to the £268,275 Lump Sum Allowance. Unused pensions still come into the estate for inheritance tax from 6 April 2027; the Budget made only technical amendments to that, and removed the “two-year rule” for pension death benefits paid on or after 28 October 2026. The minimum pension age still rises to 57 on 6 April 2028.

Tax-free lump sum calculator → · Pension inheritance tax calculator →

The State Pension in April 2027, and the triple lock after 2030

The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026-27 and the basic State Pension £184.90. The April 2027 rise follows the triple lock: earnings growth was 3.9% and September CPI 3.5%, so the formula gives 3.9% — about £250.70 a week for the full new State Pension and about £192.10 for the basic. The Budget's Pension Tax Allowance threshold of £13,037 for 2027-28 is the annual value of the full new State Pension it is pegged to. DWP's uprating statement confirms the exact weekly rates.

The Budget also adjusts the triple lock from April 2030, the next Parliament. The State Pension will still rise by at least 2.5% or inflation, but the earnings limb is replaced by the increase needed to keep the State Pension's value relative to earnings, removing what the Treasury calls the “ratchet” effect. The Treasury estimates the change reduces State Pension spending by £15 billion a year by the late 2030s. Nothing changes for the April 2027, 2028 or 2029 increases.

What the State Pension is, and who gets the full rate →

Capital gains: two changes for business owners

The headline capital gains rates stay at 18% and 24%, with the £3,000 annual exempt amount. Two reliefs move from 6 April 2027. The lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief halves from £1 million to £500,000; the Budget document puts the share of claimants who still get relief on their whole gain at three in four. A new Founders' Relief gives a 10% rate on up to £10 million of lifetime gains on qualifying founder shares, subject to a consultation that closes on 30 November 2026.

For smaller earners, the trading allowance triples from £1,000 to £3,000 from 6 April 2027, so casual income up to £3,000 needs no tax return. The tax-free mileage rate above 10,000 business miles rises from 25p to 35p.

Capital gains tax calculator →

What the Budget did not change

The pre-Budget speculation about income tax thresholds, pension tax relief, the tax-free lump sum, dividend and capital gains rates and stamp duty came to nothing. HMRC's rates annex shows identical figures for 2026-27 and 2027-28 in each row below.

Source: HMRC, Budget 2026: Overview of tax legislation and rates, Annex A (28 October 2026). Scotland sets its own income tax bands, and Scotland and Wales have their own property transaction taxes.

Property: higher tax for landlords, the surcharge confirmed for 2028

Stamp duty bands are unchanged, and replacing stamp duty and council tax with an annual property tax did not feature. Landlords pay more: rental profits move onto the new property income rates of 24%, 44% and 49% from 6 April 2027. The High Value Council Tax Surcharge on homes in England worth £2 million or more still starts in April 2028; the Budget confirms a deferral scheme, discounts and exemptions, and a 100% premium on properties left empty and unoccupied for 12 months or more.

Stamp duty calculator → · High Value Council Tax Surcharge calculator →

Energy bills and fuel

The 0% VAT rate on household electricity, which started on 1 October 2026 and was funded only to 31 March 2027, is extended to 30 June 2027; the Treasury expects it to take around £50 off the annual Ofgem price cap in April 2027. It still applies to electricity only, in Great Britain only. A new £100 Household Energy Payment reaches up to 20 million households in England from January 2027 through the council tax system. The 5p fuel duty cut and freeze run to 30 June 2027, with rates returning to their pre-cut level on 1 July 2027.

The Budget also published a Fiscal Devolution Roadmap that gives mayors a share of income tax revenue from 2028-29. That is a share of the money raised, not a power to set different rates: your income tax rate does not depend on where you live in England.

Electricity VAT calculator →

What the OBR forecast says

The Office for Budget Responsibility raised its growth forecast for 2026 to 1.2% and expects growth to slow to 1.0% in 2027 as higher energy prices and interest rates feed through. It expects inflation to peak at 3.8% in the first quarter of 2027 before falling. Headroom against the government's stability rule is £15 billion in 2029-30, rising to £22 billion in 2030-31; the Treasury attributes the reduction since March to higher debt-interest costs from the conflict in the Middle East.

Bank Rate went into the Budget at 3.75%. A week later, on 5 November 2026, the Bank of England raised it to 4%, citing energy prices; its next decision is on 17 December 2026.

The dates that matter now

• 28 October 2026 — Budget delivered. The two-year rule for pension death benefits is removed for payments from this date.
• 29 October 2026 — the 20% Lifetime ISA withdrawal charge for homes above £450,000 applies.
• 5 November 2026 — Bank of England interest-rate decision.
• November 2026 — regulations keeping the Cash ISA limit at £20,000 to be laid before Parliament.
• 30 November 2026 — Founders' Relief consultation closes.
• January 2027 — £100 Household Energy Payment begins in England.
• 1 April 2027 — National Living Wage rises to £13.21 an hour.
• 6 April 2027 — savings and property income rates of 24%, 44% and 49%; Pension Tax Allowance; £3,000 trading allowance; £500,000 Business Asset Disposal Relief limit; unused pensions join the estate for inheritance tax.
• 30 June 2027 — end of the 0% VAT on electricity and the 5p fuel duty cut.
• 6 April 2028 — the normal minimum pension age rises from 55 to 57; the High Value Council Tax Surcharge begins in April 2028.
• April 2029 — First Time Buyer ISA launches.
• April 2030 — adjusted triple lock takes effect.
• 5 April 2031 — current end of the income tax and inheritance-tax threshold freezes.

Sources & further reading

• HM Treasury — Budget 2026 (HC 726), 28 October 2026.
• HMRC — Budget 2026: Overview of tax legislation and rates and Annex A: rates and allowances, 28 October 2026.
• HM Treasury — Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, hope for the future (press release), 28 October 2026.
• Office for Budget Responsibility — Economic and fiscal outlook, October 2026.
• SI 2026/1018 — Individual Savings Account (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026 (the £12,000 cap the Budget is reversing).
• DWP — benefit and pension rates 2026 to 2027.
• Finance Act 2022, section 10 (minimum pension age 57 from 6 April 2028).

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