Autumn Budget 2026: What’s in it for Individuals?

After considerable speculation in the run-up to Budget 2026, many had expected significant changes to the taxation of individuals, particularly wealth taxes such as Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

The Chancellor delivered relatively minor tweaks rather than wholesale reform, although there are still some important changes to note:

• Pension Tax Allowance

From April 2027, a new allowance will protect pensioners whose total income is no more than the full new State Pension from having to pay small amounts of Income Tax simply because the State Pension exceeds the Personal Allowance.

• Property income

From April 2027, Income Tax rates on property income will increase by 2 percentage points to 24%, 44% and 49% for basic, higher and additional rate taxpayers respectively.

• Savings income

Savings income will also face a 2 percentage point increase from April 2027, with rates rising to 24%, 44% and 49% for basic, higher and additional rate taxpayers respectively.

• ISAs

The annual £20,000 ISA subscription limit will be retained, while the Government will explore a new incentive for first-time investors into stocks and shares ISAs.

• Business Asset Disposal Relief

Rather than a wider increase to CGT rates, the lifetime limit for BADR will reduce from £1 million to £500,000 for qualifying disposals arising from April 2027.

• Founders’ Relief

A new relief is proposed for qualifying founders of high-growth, innovative companies, providing a 10% CGT rate on up to £10 million of eligible lifetime capital gains from April 2027.

• Trading Allowance

The annual Trading Allowance will increase from £1,000 to £3,000 from April 2027, allowing more individuals to receive modest trading or miscellaneous income tax-free.

• Payments on Account

From April 2029, taxpayers already making Payments on Account will move towards smaller, more regular payments throughout the year, bringing tax payments closer to when income is earned.

Overall, despite widespread expectations of further changes to CGT and the taxation of wealth, Budget 2026 was comparatively restrained. There are certainly winners and losers, but for most individuals, the changes amount to tweaking the tax system at the current time, rather than significant reform.

Disclaimer - All information in this post was correct at time of writing.