The next UK Budget, due on 26 November 2025, is shaping up to be a significant one. With the Rachel Reeves’s government facing a sizeable short-fall in public finances (to the tune of tens of billions of pounds) the rumour mill is spinning fast.
Here are some of the major possible changes under the spotlight — and what you might want to think about.
🔍 Key Tax & Pension Change Rumours
- Pension & Salary-Sacrifice Changes: There’s speculation that the tax advantages of salary-sacrifice pension contributions could be curtailed. One proposal involves a threshold of £2,000 above which National Insurance contributions (NICs) become payable. Financial Times+2Ballards LLP+2
- Capital Gains Tax (CGT) & Property: Some analysts believe CGT may be raised, and exemptions (such as for primary residences) may be tightened — especially for high-value homes. PEM+2Forvis Mazars+2
- Inheritance Tax (IHT) Reform: Changes to lifetime gifting rules and reliefs are widely discussed. For example, caps on tax-free gifts or tweaks to taper relief are possibilities. Which?+1
- Income Tax / Threshold Freeze (“Fiscal Drag”): Although headline rates may remain unchanged (given manifesto commitments), freezing or delaying increases in personal allowances could raise tax by default. Forbes+1
- Property/Stamp Duty and Wealth-Taxes: In the property arena, suggestions include a new tax on homes worth above a certain threshold (e.g., £500 k+) or replacing Stamp Duty with a different levy. Forvis Mazars+1
✅ Why This Matters to You
As independent financial advisers at Celtic Financial Planning Ltd, we believe this upcoming Budget provides a useful prompt to review your financial planning. Here’s how we can help:
- Pension Contributions & Withdrawals: If you’re drawing from a pension or still contributing, changes to tax relief or salary-sacrifice rules could affect your strategy. We can model different outcomes for you.
- Investment Planning: Adjustments to CGT or IHT may influence decisions around asset sales, timing of disposals, or how you utilise your ISAs and pensions.
- Property-Decisions: If you’re considering selling or downsizing a property, or gifting to family members, the structure and timing may matter more than ever given possible tax changes.
- Estate & Inheritance Planning: With IHT reliefs possibly shifting, ensuring your estate plan and gifting strategy are up to date is prudent.
- Keeping Control of Costs: Any tax system change can impact net returns and the value delivered by financial planning. We’ll keep you on top of the compound impact of fees, tax and investment returns.
🧠 What You Can Do Now
- Pause and review any major financial decisions until after the Budget (unless time-sensitive) or ask for modelling to show potential impact.
- Consider your medium- to long-term plans (5-10 years+) in light of tax shifts – e.g., retirement timing, property moves, charitable gifting.
- Book in a review meeting with us to discuss: Are your pension contributions still appropriate? Do you need to adjust how you hold property or assets? Are your estate arrangements still optimal?
- Stay updated — once the Budget detail is published, we will bring you a summary of the actual changes and their direct implications for you.
🧾 Final word: Nothing is confirmed yet, so don’t make hurried decisions. But given the scale of the potential changes, now is a good time to take a fresh look at your financial plan. If you’d like to discuss how any of the possible changes might impact your situation, just let us know.
Please remember: this post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personal advice. You should consider your own circumstances and may benefit from bespoke advice.
