The Autumn Budget on 28th October 2026 gives business owners plenty to think about, from the cost of employing people to the tax on rental income and a future business sale. There are investment incentives too, but the right response will depend on what you are already planning for your business.
Our starting point is your business, not the headlines. Before changing how you pay yourself, buying equipment or bringing forward a sale, look at the effect on your cash flow and longer-term plans. A useful Budget review should leave you with a few clear decisions, rather than a longer list of worries.
This guide looks at the announcements as at 4th November 2026. Some changes are still proposals, and others start in future tax years. We explain those distinctions below so you can prepare without changing arrangements before the rules apply.
The key dates at a glance
| When | What to plan for | Who should review it |
|---|---|---|
| 1st January 2027 | Announced 50% main-rate first-year allowance | Businesses planning qualifying equipment expenditure |
| 1st April 2027 | National Living Wage £13.21; 18–20 rate £11.27 | Employers budgeting for payroll |
| April 2027 | Main writing-down allowance announced at 12% | Businesses claiming capital allowances |
| 6th April 2027 | Property and savings rates announced at 24%, 44% and 49% | Landlords and savers, subject to territorial rules |
| 6th April 2027 | BADR lifetime limit announced at £500,000; proposed Founders’ Relief | Owners considering a business sale |
| October 2027 (planned) | Extension of marketplace VAT liability | Businesses selling through online platforms |
| April 2029 | More regular Self Assessment payments on account | Taxpayers already making payments on account |
Use these dates to decide what needs a conversation now and what can sit in your next review. Eligibility and the final rules still matter, particularly for new reliefs and the proposed marketplace VAT changes.
Your income: review the whole picture
The same household can receive several types of income, each with a different tax treatment. That is why a headline about higher rates does not tell you what your own bill will be. Start with where your income comes from, then work through the changes that actually apply.
From 6th April 2027, the announced savings Income Tax rates are 24%, 44% and 49% across the UK. The announced property rates are also 24%, 44% and 49% for England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scottish treatment and devolved powers need separate consideration. These replace the previously announced 22%, 42% and 47% rates—not the rates on your salary.
For an owner-manager, company profits, salary, dividends, pension contributions, rent and savings interest need reviewing together. The dividend basic and higher rates already increased to 10.75% and 35.75% from April 2026: that is an earlier measure, not a fresh increase announced this October.
We would review your personal and company cash-flow forecasts together. Looking at one tax rate in isolation can miss what you need to live on, what the company needs to retain and how pension contributions fit into the picture. Our salary and dividend calculator can help you prepare for that conversation.
For landlords, the useful figure is rental profit and the cash left after mortgage payments—not gross rent multiplied by the new headline rate. Moving property into a company is not automatically the answer either. Transfer taxes, borrowing and your long-term plans all need weighing up; our property incorporation guide explains the points to consider.
Capital allowances: check the purchase before the rate
The announced main-rate first-year allowance is 50% on qualifying expenditure incurred from 1st January 2027. The main writing-down allowance is announced at 12% from 1st April 2027 for Corporation Tax and 6th April 2027 for Income Tax.
If you are planning an equipment purchase, bring the details and expected purchase date to your accountant before committing. Not every purchase qualifies, and full expensing and Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) eligibility remain separate questions.
A first-year allowance brings a tax deduction forward; it is not a cash grant or repayment of the purchase price. Compare AIA and full expensing before relying on the new 50% headline. We would rather see you buy equipment because the business needs it than spend money simply to reduce a tax bill.
For example, a £20,000 qualifying purchase with a 50% first-year allowance gives a £10,000 initial deduction—not a £10,000 tax saving. The saving depends on the tax rate applying to your profits. If the purchase qualifies for AIA instead, you may be able to deduct the full cost sooner, subject to the available limit.
Your team: wages, mileage and benefits
Build the wage increase into your staffing budget
From 1st April 2027, the National Living Wage is announced to rise to £13.21 per hour. The rate for workers aged 18 to 20 rises to £11.27. Review the correct age and apprentice categories for your team rather than applying one rate to everybody.
The hourly rate is only part of the cost. Build employer National Insurance where payable, pension contributions and paid leave into your staffing budget, then look at what that means for pricing and recruitment. It is also worth reviewing the pay differences between roles as the minimum rate rises.
Check mileage claims before changing the rate
For qualifying business mileage in employees’ own cars and vans, the 55p rate for the first 10,000 business miles in a tax year already applies from 6th April 2026 and is now being made permanent. The rate above 10,000 miles rises from 25p to 35p from 6th April 2027—not before. Ordinary commuting and company-car fuel reimbursements are not the same as qualifying business mileage.
Get employee-benefit records ready
Mandatory benefit payrolling is announced for company cars, vans, fuel and medical benefits from 6th April 2027. Other benefits follow from 6th April 2028, except loans and accommodation.
Start with a list of the benefits you provide, who receives them and where the values are recorded. Your payroll adviser can then help you check software readiness and plan what employees need to know. Getting the records ready now does not mean changing how you report benefits today.
Employees will also need a plain-English explanation of how benefits appear in their pay. A different deduction on a payslip can look like a mistake if nobody has explained it. A short conversation before the change is much easier than a queue of payroll queries afterwards.
Selling your business: do not assume the relief
The announced Business Asset Disposal Relief lifetime limit falls from £1 million to £500,000 for qualifying disposals on or after 6th April 2027. This is a limit on qualifying lifetime gains, not the sale price of the business or a fresh allowance for each sale. Previous claims and the other qualifying conditions remain important.
The proposed Founders’ Relief offers a 10% Capital Gains Tax rate on up to £10 million of qualifying lifetime gains. It is aimed at founders and early investors making a significant long-term contribution to high-growth, innovative companies—not every owner-managed business. The technical consultation closes on 30th November 2026, with legislation intended to apply to qualifying disposals from 6th April 2027.
The proposed conditions include a 25% ordinary shareholding when the trade, or preparations for it, began, at least five tax years of ownership and strict company size and growth tests. These include turnover of at least £10 million and at least 15 qualifying full-time equivalent employees in the relevant period, alongside further residence, trading and growth or R&D requirements. The £10 million lifetime limit would also be reduced by BADR and Investors’ Relief claims made from 6th April 2027. In short, being a founder alone will not be enough.
If a sale, share exchange or restructuring is on the horizon, talk through the tax position before agreeing terms. The announced transitional rules cover certain uncompleted sale contracts and elections to trigger a gain on a share reorganisation. Signing early—or getting clearance—should not be assumed to secure the old BADR limit.
Putting a holding company above your trading company for genuine long-term planning is not automatically prevented by these changes: a qualifying share-for-share exchange can still defer the gain, but the clearance, wider arrangements and any election to claim BADR need checking before completion.
Our guide to preparing an ecommerce business for sale covers the commercial groundwork. Tax relief is only one part of a successful exit: reliable accounts, maintainable earnings and a business that can operate without you also affect the outcome.
Marketplace VAT: prepare your records, not new VAT settings
The marketplace VAT proposal would make platforms responsible for collecting VAT on qualifying sales by UK VAT-registered businesses and other UK businesses meeting an annual sales threshold of £90,000 per platform. It concerns goods in the UK at the time of sale—not all online sales or services. The planned start is October 2027. Personal sales, second-hand sales and B2B sales are excluded.
The final threshold and implementation date are to be set by secondary legislation in 2027. This is not a current VAT rule change: do not alter VAT treatment, pricing or platform settings solely on this announcement.
For now, separate your sales by platform and customer type and check that marketplace settlements reconcile to your accounts. If the proposal could affect your business, speak to COPA about ecommerce accounting support while the final rules are developed.
The practical issue is knowing who accounts for the VAT on each sale. A marketplace payout is already reduced by fees, refunds and other adjustments; changes to VAT collection could make that reconciliation harder if your records only show the amount reaching the bank. Getting the detail right now helps even if the final proposal changes.
This proposal is separate from EU OSS/IOSS and the marketplace VAT rules already in force. International stock locations, customer locations and the role of each platform still need checking. Our ecommerce VAT guide and marketplace VAT guide explain those existing obligations.
Business rates: check whether your property qualifies
For qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England, the Budget raises the Small Business Rates Relief threshold for 100% relief from £12,000 to £18,000 rateable value, with tapered relief up to £21,000, from April 2027. It also announces a real-terms freeze for qualifying properties in those sectors in 2027/28 and 2028/29.
A real-terms freeze does not mean the cash bill cannot rise: eligible increases are capped at CPI inflation. The cap does not cover increases in rateable value from property improvements, or the loss of certain other reliefs, such as improvement or hardship relief, after 1st April 2026. Allow for those exceptions when budgeting.
This is not a universal £18,000 exemption for all small businesses. An office, warehouse or property outside England should not assume the same treatment. Check the property’s eligibility and rateable value with the relevant billing authority before changing your forecast.
Rateable value is not your rent or the property's sale price. Use the figure on your rates assessment, and check whether occupying other premises affects your relief. Two businesses paying similar rents can still have very different rates bills.
Self Assessment, smaller traders and personal savings
Plan for payments without losing sight of today's deadlines
From April 2029, the government plans smaller, more regular in-year Income Tax payments for people already within Self Assessment payments on account. Implementation work continues. This does not replace today’s filing and payment deadlines, and it is not a new rule requiring every taxpayer to make monthly payments now.
Keep your tax reserves separate from everyday spending and update your forecast before taking larger drawings. For the 2025/26 tax year, the standard online Self Assessment filing and payment deadline remains 31st January 2027. Our Self Assessment calculator can help you estimate what to set aside; it is not a filed tax return.
Review the trading allowance against your expenses
The trading allowance and trading-income reporting threshold are announced to rise from £1,000 to £3,000 from 6th April 2027. The allowance concerns eligible gross trading and miscellaneous income, not an extra £3,000 deduction on top of actual business expenses. Check whether the allowance or actual expenses produce the appropriate result and whether any exceptions apply.
Keep ISA limits in perspective
The government will retain the £20,000 cash ISA limit for adults from April 2027, reversing the planned restriction. This sits within the overall ISA allowance, not alongside a second £20,000 allowance. Separately, a new First Time Buyer ISA is planned to launch in April 2029—not April 2027. Existing Lifetime ISA holders can continue under their current account rules.
Corporation Tax: keep your profit forecast in view
The announcement maintains the 25% main rate and 19% small profits rate for the financial year starting 1st April 2028. Neither headline is a blanket rate for every company's profits; check which treatment applies to your circumstances.
Profits between the relevant limits can fall within marginal relief, rather than being taxed at a simple flat 19% or 25%. Those limits can also be reduced where there are associated companies. If you are adding another company to your structure, check the tax position across the group—not just company by company.
Keep your profit forecast and investment plans together when reviewing tax, rather than setting the tax budget separately from the decisions that affect it. Our Corporation Tax calculator can help you explore an estimate.
Your next review with COPA
You do not need to work through every announcement at once. Bring the decisions you are actually considering, along with your latest forecasts, and we can help you identify what needs attention first.
- Review your personal drawings, company cash flow and tax reserves together.
- Bring proposed equipment purchases and expenditure dates so we can check which relief applies.
- List your employee benefits and discuss payroll preparation ahead of the announced dates.
- Keep marketplace records clear while the final VAT rules are developed.
- Discuss any intended sale or restructuring before agreeing terms.
If you want to work through the numbers first, our payroll calculator and non-car benefits calculator are also available. Use all calculators with their displayed tax years and assumptions; they do not model every future announcement in this guide.
Our aim is to help you leave the review knowing what to do, who will do it and when. This guide is general information, so take advice on your own circumstances before acting.