Autumn Budget 2026, 28 Oct 2026
Autumn Budget 2026: what it does to households
Who gains and who loses from the Autumn Budget 2026's changes to taxes and benefits, for the whole country by income and for six example households, before and after. We lead with 2027-28, the first full year of most of the measures, with 2026-27 beside it.
Summary
Our estimate for the whole country, by income, follows once an editor has checked it. Until then: the example households, your own tax on a salary, the measures and the Treasury's own chart for the Autumn Budget 2026, below.
Change in income, by income tenth
Follows once an editor has checked it.
Who gains and who loses
Follows once an editor has checked it.
Six example households, before and after
Income after tax and benefits in 2027-28, without the Autumn Budget 2026 and with it. The households are fixed and the same for everyone: in England, earnings held the same each year, and spending what the Office for National Statistics finds a similar household spends, so changes to VAT and fuel duty reach them. Benefits are claimed where due.
Single adult earning £25,000
£0 a year in 2027-28
range £0 to £0; £21,089 without, £21,089 with
2026-27: £0
Single adult earning £45,000
£0 a year in 2027-28
range £0 to £0; £35,433 without, £35,433 with
2026-27: £0
Single adult earning £120,000
£0 a year in 2027-28
range £0 to £0; £75,731 without, £75,731 with
2026-27: £0
Couple earning £35,000 and £15,000, two children
£0 a year in 2027-28
range £0 to £0; £44,631 without, £44,631 with
2026-27: £0
Lone parent earning £18,000, one child
£0 a year in 2027-28
range £0 to £0; £22,224 without, £22,224 with
2026-27: £0
Pensioner couple on the state pension
£0 a year in 2027-28
range £0 to £0; £25,572 without, £25,572 with
2026-27: £0
| Household | Without, 2027-28 | With | Change a year | Change in 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single adult earning £25,000 | £21,089 | £21,089 | £0£0 to £0 | £0 |
| Single adult earning £45,000 | £35,433 | £35,433 | £0£0 to £0 | £0 |
| Single adult earning £120,000 | £75,731 | £75,731 | £0£0 to £0 | £0 |
| Couple earning £35,000 and £15,000, two children | £44,631 | £44,631 | £0£0 to £0 | £0 |
| Lone parent earning £18,000, one child | £22,224 | £22,224 | £0£0 to £0 | £0 |
| Pensioner couple on the state pension | £25,572 | £25,572 | £0£0 to £0 | £0 |
Your income tax and National Insurance
What the Autumn Budget 2026's changes to income tax and employees' National Insurance mean on your own salary, worked out in your browser.
The Autumn Budget 2026 changes no rate or threshold of income tax or employees' National Insurance in these years, so your own bill on a salary is the same with it as without it.
The measures
Each measure links to the page of the document that announced it. “Without” is what would have applied had the Budget not happened.
In the estimate (3)
Raise the tax rates on savings income by a further 2 points from April 2027
From 6 Apr 2027. Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 142, its line in the Treasury's table
What changes
- Savings basic rate: 2027-28 22% → 24%; 2028-29 22% → 24%; 2029-30 22% → 24%; 2030-31 22% → 24%
- Savings higher rate: 2027-28 42% → 44%; 2028-29 42% → 44%; 2029-30 42% → 44%; 2030-31 42% → 44%
- Savings additional rate: 2027-28 47% → 49%; 2028-29 47% → 49%; 2029-30 47% → 49%; 2030-31 47% → 49%
On top of the 2-point rise Budget 2025 set for April 2027 (Table 6.1, line 62, page 111): the savings basic, higher and additional rates become 24%, 44% and 49% across the UK.
Raise the tax rates on property income by a further 2 points from April 2027
From 6 Apr 2027. Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 142, its line in the Treasury's table
What changes
- Property basic rate: 2027-28 22% → 24%; 2028-29 22% → 24%; 2029-30 22% → 24%; 2030-31 22% → 24%
- Property higher rate: 2027-28 42% → 44%; 2028-29 42% → 44%; 2029-30 42% → 44%; 2030-31 42% → 44%
- Property additional rate: 2027-28 47% → 49%; 2028-29 47% → 49%; 2029-30 47% → 49%; 2030-31 47% → 49%
On top of the property rates Budget 2025 set for April 2027: 24%, 44% and 49% in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Table 6.1, line 61, page 111).
Raise the income tax trading allowance from £1,000 to £3,000 from April 2027
From 6 Apr 2027. Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 142, its line in the Treasury's table
What changes
- Trading allowance, £ a year: 2027-28 £1,000 → £3,000; 2028-29 £1,000 → £3,000; 2029-30 £1,000 → £3,000; 2030-31 £1,000 → £3,000
Not in the estimate (16)
Keep the 5p cut in fuel duty to 1 July 2027 and put off the planned RPI rise to the same day
Not in the model
PolicyEngine has a fuel duty rate, but the Budget document gives no rate in pence for after 1 July 2027 (57.95p plus an RPI rise it does not state), so the 2027-28 averages cannot be typed without guessing. It goes into the model once HMRC's note gives the rates. The Treasury costs it at £575 million in 2026-27 and £780 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, line 3, page 105).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 138, its line in the Treasury's table
Keep VAT on household electricity at 0% for three more months, to 1 July 2027
Needs modelling beyond the public model
PolicyEngine's public model charges VAT on shares of total spending, not on electricity bills, so it cannot target electricity. The Treasury costs the cut from 5% to 0% at £755 million in 2026-27 and £305 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, line 2, page 105).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 138, its line in the Treasury's table
A £100 council tax rebate for homes in bands A to D in England from January 2027
Not in the model
PolicyEngine has no council tax rebate a policy can set. A one-off £100 paid by councils in 2026-27; the Treasury costs it at £2,625 million (Table 6.1, line 1, page 105).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 117, its line in the Treasury's table
A Pension Tax Allowance so pensioners with income up to the full new State Pension pay no income tax, April 2027 to April 2030
Not in the model
A new income tax allowance for people over State Pension age, worth 20% of the gap between the full new State Pension and the personal allowance, tapered away just above it. PolicyEngine has no parameter for it, and the Budget document gives neither the allowance in pounds nor the taper. The Treasury costs it at £45 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, line 52, page 110).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 135, its line in the Treasury's table
Keep the Universal Credit surplus earnings threshold at £2,500 for another year, to March 2028
Not in the model
PolicyEngine works out Universal Credit over a whole year, so it has no surplus earnings rule from month to month. The Treasury costs it at £140 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, line 8, page 106).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 116, its line in the Treasury's table
Replace the Carer's Allowance earnings cliff edge with a taper in 2030-31
Needs modelling beyond the public model
PolicyEngine withdraws Carer's Allowance in full above the earnings limit and has no taper to switch on. The Budget gives no start date within 2030-31 (the date here is the year's first day). The Treasury costs it at £40 million in 2030-31 (Table 6.1, line 7, page 106).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 116, its line in the Treasury's table
A Parental Allowance for fathers, partners and adopters who do not get statutory pay, from April 2029
A new tax
A benefit that does not exist yet, so the model has no rules for it. The Treasury costs it at £70 million a year from 2029-30 (Table 6.1, line 6, page 106).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 116, its line in the Treasury's table
From April 2030, raise the State Pension by the highest of 2.5%, inflation or what keeps it level with earnings as in April 2029
Needs modelling beyond the public model
It changes the rule, not an amount: the Budget document gives no rise for 2030-31, and the change is not a line of Table 6.1. PolicyEngine pays pensions uprated by the current triple lock, so modelling it would need the 2030-31 rise under both rules (Box 5A, page 100).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 99
Raise tax-free mileage rates to 55p for the first 10,000 business miles and 35p above
Not in the model
PolicyEngine does not model mileage allowance relief. The Treasury costs it at £200 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, line 5, page 106).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 138, its line in the Treasury's table
Keep the cash ISA limit at £20,000 from April 2027
Not in the model
PolicyEngine does not model ISA limits. The Treasury costs it at £5 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, line 11, page 106).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 142, its line in the Treasury's table
Cut the Lifetime ISA withdrawal charge to 20% for homes above £450,000, and a First Time Buyer ISA from April 2029
Not in the model
PolicyEngine does not model Lifetime ISA bonuses or charges (Table 6.1, lines 38 and 39, page 109).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 141, its line in the Treasury's table
Capital gains tax: a new Founders' Relief at 10% and a lower £500,000 limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief, from April 2027
Not in the model
PolicyEngine has capital gains tax rates but neither relief. The Treasury costs Founders' Relief at £260 million and the lower limit as raising £60 million in 2027-28 (Table 6.1, lines 26 and 60, pages 108 and 111).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 143, its line in the Treasury's table
Cap Plan 2 and Plan 3 student loan interest at 6% from September 2026 to August 2027
Needs modelling beyond the public model
PolicyEngine takes student loan repayments as the survey records them; interest changes balances, not this year's repayments. The Treasury costs it at £230 million in 2026-27.
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 113, its line in the Treasury's table
Cap single bus fares at £2 in England outside London for a year from January 2027
Needs modelling beyond the public model
PolicyEngine has no bus fare rules a policy can change. The Treasury costs it at £180 million in 2027-28.
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 106, its line in the Treasury's table
Raise company car tax rates by 1 point for 2030-31
Not in the model
PolicyEngine does not model company car benefits. The Treasury expects it to raise £310 million in 2030-31 (Table 6.1, line 86, page 113).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 137, its line in the Treasury's table
Deferrals, discounts and exemptions for the council tax surcharge on homes over £2 million, from April 2028
Not in the model
The Budget document does not give the discounts' rules, and PolicyEngine has no parameter for them. The Treasury costs them at £45 million in 2028-29 (Table 6.1, line 93, page 113).
Budget 2026: Breathing space for today, fresh hope for the future, page 140, its line in the Treasury's table
Measures announced before the Budget and only scored in its table are left out, as they were not decisions of this Budget: the summer VAT cut on family days out (line 66), the £1 road tax for lorries (line 65) and free bus travel for children in August 2026 (line 67). Food tariff suspensions (line 10) change prices, not taxes or benefits households pay or receive.
The Treasury's own chart, 2027-28
HM Treasury publishes its own estimate with every Budget. It counts the tax, welfare and public spending decisions of this Budget (including those announced earlier and funded at it) in 2027-28, including the value of public services households use. Its figures are official; it gives no range.
Why the two differ: The Treasury's chart counts this Budget's tax, welfare and spending decisions, including fuel duty, the 0% VAT on electricity and the £100 energy payment, and adds the value of public services; ours counts only the measures PolicyEngine can model, in cash, for each year.
Taxes and welfare, in cash
With the value of public services added
Show as tableHide table
| Income tenth | Tax | Welfare | Public services | Overall | Overall, £ a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (lowest) | +0.15% | +0.03% | +0.38% | +0.57% | +£75 |
| 2 | +0.09% | +0.04% | +0.15% | +0.28% | +£70 |
| 3 | +0.06% | +0.03% | +0.14% | +0.24% | +£70 |
| 4 | +0.05% | +0.02% | +0.07% | +0.15% | +£53 |
| 5 | +0.04% | +0.01% | +0.05% | +0.11% | +£43 |
| 6 | +0.04% | +0.01% | +0.04% | +0.08% | +£39 |
| 7 | +0.02% | 0.00% | +0.03% | +0.05% | +£26 |
| 8 | 0.00% | 0.00% | +0.02% | +0.03% | +£17 |
| 9 | −0.03% | 0.00% | +0.02% | −0.01% | −£6 |
| 10 (highest) | −0.09% | 0.00% | +0.01% | −0.08% | −£105 |
| All households | 0.00% | +0.01% | +0.05% | +0.06% | +£28 |
Source: HM Treasury, Impact of decisions at Budget 2026 on households in 2027-28, as a percentage of net income, by income decile, Open Government Licence v3.0. The Treasury publishes no table of these figures; we read them from the chart's drawing in the PDF, to about a hundredth of a point.
How it works
Editors type each measure from the Budget documents, every figure with its page: the value in each year without the Budget, and with it. We send the two complete sets of rules to PolicyEngine, a charity whose open-source model of UK taxes and benefits runs them over a large survey of households that represents the country (the Family Resources Survey, reweighted by PolicyEngine). It works out every household's income both ways and adds up the differences by income tenth.
It is a static estimate: nobody changes their work, spending or savings because of the Budget. PolicyEngine gives one figure for each result; we show it with a ±10% range and label it an estimate. It is not an official figure and not advice about anyone's own taxes.
We asked PolicyEngine once, on 28 Oct 2026, not each time someone opens the page, and nothing about readers is ever sent. Every answer came from one version of the model: PolicyEngine UK 2.132.6, data not used (deciles held). An editor checked the measures before this page was published. You can open the same comparison in PolicyEngine's own app, or read the measures file and our method.
What Autumn Budget 2026 could do to the government's promises Other Budgets: Autumn Budget 2025
Questions
Is this the government's own figure?
No. It is our estimate, made with PolicyEngine UK, an open-source model of the UK's taxes and benefits run by the charity PolicyEngine. The Treasury publishes its own analysis with every Budget; its chart is on this page, beside ours. Neither is advice about your own taxes.
Why does it differ from the Treasury's chart?
The Treasury's chart counts this Budget's tax, welfare and spending decisions, including fuel duty, the 0% VAT on electricity and the £100 energy payment, and adds the value of public services; ours counts only the measures PolicyEngine can model, in cash, for each year. The Treasury also adjusts each household's income for its size before ranking; PolicyEngine's public model ranks households by their income as it is.
What is an income tenth?
Households are ranked by their income after tax and benefits and split into ten groups, each holding a tenth of the people. The first tenth has the lowest incomes. Income is not adjusted for household size, so a large family on a modest income can sit in a middle tenth.
Why are some measures missing?
The model can change only the rules it already has. A new tax, a tax it does not model (inheritance tax, corporation tax, business rates) or a change that needs more than new rates and thresholds is listed under “Not in the estimate”, with the reason.
Why lead with 2027-28?
Most measures in a Budget take effect the following April, so 2027-28 is the first full year of most of them. 2026-27 is shown beside it.
Is anything about me sent anywhere?
No. The six example households are fixed and the same for everyone, and the estimate was worked out once, before this page was published. Nothing you do on this page is sent to PolicyEngine.