For owners thinking about a sale, the biggest change is to Business Asset Disposal Relief: from 6 April 2027 it covers £500,000 of lifetime gains instead of £1,000,000. For employers, the National Living Wage rises to £13.21 an hour from 1 April 2027. The headline rates of Income Tax, National Insurance, VAT, Capital Gains Tax and dividend tax don't change, though Income Tax on savings interest and on rent from property owned personally rises to 24%, 44% and 49% from 6 April 2027, two points more than announced a year ago.
The list below has every change in the Budget that affects an owner-run business, in the order they start. Each line links to the document it comes from, so you can check it yourself.
24 changes, earliest start date first.
Payments made on or after 28 October 2026
Pension death benefits paid after two years are no longer taxed for that reason alone
Beneficiaries won't be taxed just because tax-free pension and lump sum death benefits are paid more than two years after the member's death.
For: Passing the business on. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
Exit charges on or after 28 October 2026
An easier exit charge for trusts that stop being UK resident
Changes to the Capital Gains Tax exit charge that applies when a trust ceases to be UK resident because its trustees move. The Budget doesn't announce an exit charge on individuals who leave the UK.
For: Leaving the UK, Passing the business on. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 1 January 2027 and April 2027
The first-year allowance rises to 50% and the main writing-down allowance falls to 12%
For main rate plant and machinery: a 50% first-year allowance for spending on or after 1 January 2027, and a 12% writing-down allowance from 1 April 2027 for Corporation Tax and 6 April 2027 for Income Tax.
From 1 April 2027
The National Living Wage rises to £13.21 an hour
Up 3.9% from £12.71 for workers aged 21 and over. The rate for 18 to 20 year olds rises to £11.27, and for 16 and 17 year olds and eligible apprentices to £8.31. The accommodation offset rises to £11.53 a day. The government accepted the Low Pay Commission's recommendations in full.
For: You employ people. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 1 April 2027
Small Business Rate Relief covers more shops, pubs, restaurants and salons in England
For qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties, the rateable value for 100% relief rises from £12,000 to £18,000, and for tapered relief from £15,000 to £21,000. The government says about 70,000 more businesses will pay no business rates.
From 1 April 2027
Business rates bills for retail, hospitality and leisure are capped at inflation for two years
A real-terms freeze: increases for qualifying retail, hospitality and leisure properties in England are capped by CPI inflation in 2027 to 2028 and 2028 to 2029. Supporting Small Business relief is extended for one year for those who had it in 2023.
From 1 April 2027
Business rates relief for pubs, social clubs and live music venues rises to 35%
Up from 15% in England, for all but the very largest live music venues.
From April 2027
Vape shops and adult gaming centres lose business rates reliefs
In England, adult gaming centres lose the lower retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers, and vape shops lose those and Small Business Rate Relief.
Disposals made from 6 April 2027
The lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief halves to £500,000
Gains that qualify are still taxed at 18%, but only up to £500,000 over a lifetime instead of £1,000,000. Gains above the new limit are taxed at the main rates of 18% and 24%. Because the relieved gain uses up the basic rate band first, in practice that means 24%. HMRC says special rules will apply to contracts entered into before 6 April 2027 that haven't completed by then, and to some share reorganisations and exchanges of securities. The government says three quarters of people who claim the relief will still get it on their whole gain.
For: Selling within two years. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 6 April 2027
A new Founders' Relief taxes qualifying gains at 10%
A 10% rate of Capital Gains Tax on up to £10,000,000 of lifetime gains, for founders and early investors in high-growth, innovative companies. The costing says founders must have held at least 25% of the company when it started trading, and the company must meet turnover and employment thresholds and two of three growth and innovation tests. The detail is out for technical consultation.
For: Selling within two years. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 policy costings
From 6 April 2027
Company Share Option Plans become EMI2, with a £120,000 limit
The limit on options each employee can hold doubles from £60,000 to £120,000, stops counting against the Enterprise Management Incentive limit, and options can be exercised for 15 years instead of 10.
For: You employ people. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 6 April 2027
Enterprise Management Incentives get more flexible, including for employee ownership
Employees get 180 days instead of 90 to exercise options after a disqualifying event, companies moving to an Employee Ownership Trust keep access to the scheme, and the separate notice of each option grant goes.
For: You employ people, Selling within two years. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
35p rate from 6 April 2027
Tax-free mileage rates stay at 55p a mile and rise to 35p above 10,000 miles
The temporary 55p rate for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van, which applies from 6 April 2026, becomes permanent. The rate above 10,000 miles rises from 25p to 35p.
For: You employ people. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 6 April 2027
Payrolling company cars, vans, fuel and medical benefits becomes compulsory
The Budget's table of measures confirms employers will have to report these benefits through payroll from 6 April 2027, with the remaining benefits in kind following from 6 April 2028.
For: You employ people. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 6 April 2027
The Trading Allowance triples to £3,000
Individuals can receive up to £3,000 a year of trading and miscellaneous income tax-free, up from £1,000.
From 6 April 2027
Income Tax on rental income rises to 24%, 44% and 49%
A further two points on top of the rise announced in 2025, for landlords who own property personally in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Rent paid to a company is not affected by this measure.
From 6 April 2027
Income Tax on savings interest rises to 24%, 44% and 49%
A further two points on top of the rise announced in 2025, across the UK. Dividend tax rates don't change.
Tax year 2027 to 2028
No penalty points for late first updates under Making Tax Digital
Sole traders and landlords joining Making Tax Digital for Income Tax in April 2027 won't get penalty points for late submission of their first four quarterly updates in 2027 to 2028.
From October 2027
Online marketplaces will collect VAT on UK sellers' sales
Marketplaces become responsible for VAT on sales by UK VAT-registered businesses and other UK businesses above a threshold of £90,000 a year of sales through that marketplace. Personal sales, second-hand goods and sales to other businesses are not covered.
From late 2027
A Securities Transfer Tax replaces Stamp Duty on shares
Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax on shares will be replaced by a single Securities Transfer Tax, legislated in Finance Bill 2026-27. The Budget document doesn't give the rate or the exact start date.
For: Selling within two years. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From April 2028
The tax rules on payments from a company to its shareholders are being rewritten
The government will modernise how distributions are taxed, including the relief that can let a company buy back an owner's shares and have it taxed as a capital gain, and arrangements that turn profits into capital gains through a new holding company. HM Treasury's factsheet says ordinary dividends, dividend tax rates and Capital Gains Tax on ordinary share sales don't change, and that the rules are meant to protect genuine family successions. Draft rules are due in 2027.
For: You take dividends, Selling within two years, Passing the business on. Source: HM Treasury: Modernising the distributions framework, factsheet
From April 2029
VAT and PAYE bills will need a direct debit in place
Businesses must set up a direct debit for VAT and PAYE return liabilities. They can still pay another way before a cut-off date, and the direct debit collects anything unpaid.
For: You employ people. Source: HM Treasury: Budget 2026 (28 October 2026)
From 1 April 2029
VAT invoices must be electronic
VAT invoices will have to be issued in a set electronic format. Full technical details are due by April 2028.
From April 2029
Self Assessment payments on account move to more regular payments in the year
Taxpayers who make payments on account will pay more often during the year towards their final bill.
What the Budget didn't change
- The headline rates of Income Tax, National Insurance contributions and VAT. The exceptions are Income Tax on savings interest and on rent from property owned personally, which rise to 24%, 44% and 49% from 6 April 2027, two points more than announced a year ago.
- The main rates of Capital Gains Tax, 18% and 24%, and the rate of Business Asset Disposal Relief, 18%.
- Dividend tax rates, 10.75%, 35.75% and 39.35% for 2026 to 2027.
- Corporation Tax, which stays at 25% and 19% and is now set for the year from 1 April 2028 too.
- The Personal Allowance of £12,570 and the basic rate band of £37,700, already fixed until 5 April 2031.
- No new change was announced to Business Relief from inheritance tax, or to the rule that wipes out a gain on death.
- The Budget doesn't announce an exit charge on individuals who leave the UK.
If you're thinking of selling
What the Budget does to the tax on selling your business works out the tax on your own gain before and after 6 April 2027. Our business sale tax calculator covers the whole sale under today's rules.
How we built this list
We read the Budget document, the policy costings, HMRC's overview of tax legislation and rates and the other documents HM Treasury and HMRC published with them on 28 October 2026, and only list measures that appear in them, with the start date they give. Most still need Parliament to pass the Finance Bill. We left out measures aimed at banks, energy generators and other sectors few owner-run businesses are in. This is general guidance, not advice.