Autumn Budget 26 November 2025

So the cat is out of the proverbial bag and we now have a Budget date of 26 November. Later than expected, but at least this year it won't require me to cancel my half-term holiday!

Jury is out as to whether the lengthy delay between now and then is A Good Thing or A Very Bad Thing, given it is almost certain to raise pre Budget scaremongering to purple alert levels, but also that there is a bit more breathing room for those rushing to get things done before Budget Day.

While we have become used, certainly since the Truss/Kwarteng disaster some years ago, to seeing carefully contrived 'leaks' of Budget content in the weeks before the announcement as the Government tests the reception of some of the plans in advance of writing them down in ink. This time, however, it feels like all of the possible solutions on the table are being waved around to see which stick, and which fall flat.

Inheritance tax does seem to be in the crosshairs, and coupled with the already announced changes to APR and BPR if you are already thinking of making gifts, either into trust or direct gifts that would be PETs and benefit from full exemption after the (current) seven year tail, then doing so sooner rather than later may prove a wise move. Should you take these twelve weeks to suddenly decide to give everything away without proper tax consideration? Probably not. Will they levy NI on rental income? I doubt it, as landlords would simply raise rents and that would hit those 'working people' squarely in the wallet, as well as being ideologically difficult to justify given rental income is not treated as earnings for other tax purposes.

Whatever happens, there is a sense that the Government are throwing the kitchen sink at the economy problem to try and fix it. And as tax advisers, we simply have to wait and see and deal with whatever happens.