Autumn Budget 2026: what to expect on 28 October

Update, 31 October 2026: the Budget has now happened, and two things below changed. The cut to the cash ISA limit was scrapped, so it stays at £20,000. And tax on savings and rental income now rises by 4 percentage points from April 2027, not 2. Here’s what the Budget actually means for your money.

John Healey delivers his first Budget as Chancellor on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Expect a lot of headlines between now and then, and a lot of them will be guesses.

Here’s how I’d sort it: what’s already been decided, what’s being talked about, and what you should and shouldn’t do before the day.

Already decided: these won’t change on the day

A lot of what will affect your money over the next few years was announced at last year’s Budget and is already law or on its way. It’s worth knowing, because it’s certain.

• Income tax thresholds stay frozen until April 2031. The tax-free Personal Allowance stays at £12,570 and higher-rate tax still starts at £50,270. As pay rises, more of it gets taxed at 40%.
• Dividend tax went up in April 2026. The ordinary rate is now 10.75% and the upper rate 35.75%. If you run a company and pay yourself in dividends, you’re already paying more.
• Tax on savings interest and rental income rises by 2 percentage points from April 2027. Savings income will be taxed at 22%, 42% and 47%. (Update: the Budget added another 2 points, so the rates will be 24%, 44% and 49%.)
• The cash ISA limit falls to £12,000 from April 2027 if you’re under 65. The overall ISA allowance stays at £20,000, so the rest can still go into a stocks and shares ISA. (Update: the Budget scrapped this cut. The cash ISA limit stays at £20,000.)
• Unused pension pots come into inheritance tax from April 2027.
• Salary sacrifice into a pension gets less generous from April 2029. Only the first £2,000 a year will be free of National Insurance.

Being talked about: none of this is confirmed

The Treasury has less room than it had in the spring. A Reuters poll of economists this week put the government’s buffer at around £10 to £12 billion, roughly half of what it was in March. That’s why tax rises are being discussed at all.

• Banks, property and gambling companies are reported to be the most likely sources of new money.
• Capital gains tax is the one most talked about for individuals. It’s currently 18% or 24% on most gains. Reports suggest a full move to income tax rates has been rejected, but a smaller rise hasn’t been ruled out.
• Pensions. There’s been speculation about the 25% tax-free lump sum for months. Nothing has been confirmed.
• Cost-of-living help is expected, but modest.

The government has said it won’t raise the rates of income tax, employee National Insurance or VAT, in line with its manifesto.

What not to do before 28 October

Don’t take your pension tax-free cash because of a rumour. Withdrawals of tax-free lump sums jumped by more than a fifth last year, widely put down to fear of the rules changing. Once that money is out of your pension, you can’t put it back in the same way, and it can end up sitting in a current account doing nothing.

Don’t sell investments in a panic over capital gains tax. Selling early to beat a rise that may never happen can cost you more in fees, missed growth or a tax bill you didn’t need to trigger.

Decisions made on rumour are expensive.

What to do instead

• Use what you know you have. If you were planning to save into a cash ISA, you can still put up to £20,000 into one until 5 April 2027.
• Check your next payslip. Know what actually lands, so you can tell whether anything announced on the day changes it.
• Write down what your money is for over the next three months. A plan doesn’t depend on the Budget. Whatever’s announced, you’ll adjust one plan rather than starting from scratch.

I’ll go through what was actually announced, in plain English, the day after the Budget.

Correct as of 19 October 2026. Rates and thresholds apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland unless stated. Scotland sets its own income tax bands.