The October Budget: What Owners Should Check Now

The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over rises by 3.9% to £13.21 an hour, and the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20 year olds rises by 3.9% to £11.27. Check the start date on gov.uk and update your payroll and pricing before it arrives. If wages are a large share of your costs, work out the annual effect now, then decide whether to reprice or change scope.

From April 2029, paying PAYE and VAT by Direct Debit becomes mandatory. You can still pay another way, but the Direct Debit will collect any unpaid balance. That makes cash planning around due dates more important, not less.

The lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief falls from £1 million to £500,000. If a sale, succession or share restructure is on your five-year plan, ask your accountant to model it with the new limit. The government also announced Founders' Relief, a 10% rate on up to £10 million of lifetime gains for qualifying founders of high-growth companies. Eligibility is still to be consulted on, so do not plan around it yet.

From April 2027, the 100% relief threshold for Small Business Rates Relief rises from £12,000 to £18,000 for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England, and the tapered threshold rises from £15,000 to £21,000. Business rates bills for eligible firms not receiving relief are frozen from April 2027 to April 2029. Pubs, social clubs and most live music venues get an extra 20% relief from 1 April 2027.

Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts on 6 April 2027 for those with qualifying income above £30,000 in 2025/26. Those who first use it from April 2027 get no late-filing penalties for their first four quarterly updates. Income tax on property and savings income rises by a further 2% from April 2027.