Reeves hands small businesses sour cocktail in Autumn Budget November 26, 2025 Small and mudiec-sized businesses (SMEs) now face a sour cocktail of higher taxes, rising costs, and tighter margins following Rachel Reeves’ second Budget as Chancellor. Dividend taxes are up, income tax and National Insurance thresholds remain frozen until 2030-31, and salary-sacrifice pension reliefs are being curtailed. For many small business owners, the Budget will feel [...]
Turf good, grassroots bad: Budget spares horse racing but divides sport November 26, 2025 Horse racing chiefs have welcomed the Chancellor’s decision to afford it an exemption from major increases in gambling taxes announced in today’s Budget. While tax on remote gaming will jump to 40 per cent from April and remote sports betting from 15 to 25 per cent in 2027, duty on horse racing wagers has been [...]
Budget 2025: What exactly is happening with business rates? November 26, 2025 Long-awaited changes to business rates were finally announced in the Budget, with a lower rate for small companies to be paid for by a higher levy for large firms. Retailers have been railing against for business rates for years, with concerns that the tax creates an unfair playing field between high street and online firms, which [...]
Autumn Budget: Shares tumble as Reeves taxes bookies higher November 26, 2025 Shares in British betting and gaming firms, including Entain, William Hill UK, Evoke, and Flutter, fell sharply after Rachel Reeves revealed upcoming increases in gambling duties in her Autumn Budget. Shares in those and other publicly-listed companies were down between one and 19 per cent by 12:38 on Wednesday. The forcasted tax changes sent investors [...]
Budget: ‘Tax on holidays’ slammed by Butlin’s boss November 26, 2025 The chief executive of Butlin’s has slammed Rachel Reeves for introducing a ‘tax on holidays’ in her Budget today. Jon Hendry Pickup has argued that “hospitality businesses like Butlin’s remain caught in the crossfire of the Chancellor’s tax and spend ideology”. The chief executive was reacting to the ‘tourism tax’ which has been welcomed by [...]
Autumn Budget ‘deeply concerning’ for squeezed hospitality industry November 26, 2025 The UK’s hospitality industry has been disappointed by the Autumn Budget, with no cuts to VAT and no changes to National Insurance. Even a cut to business rates has been described as “too little, too little” as well as something likely to get wiped out by an inflation-linked revaluation of rates next year. “This is [...]
Natwest and Lloyds shares soar after escaping Budget tax raid November 26, 2025 Britain’s banking giants have managed to escape a tax raid in the Labour government’s second Autumn Budget. UK lenders have been in the hot seat on the road to 26 November, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves facing lobbying calls across the aisle. But as Rachel Reeves made a £26bn cash grab, which included bookies, landlords and [...]
Rachel Reeves’ Budget was Labour to the core November 26, 2025 Cheered by backbenchers, Reeves' headline pledge to scrap the two child benefit cap made for a party-appeasing Budget, writes Douglas Beattie.
Autumn Budget: Salary sacrifice pension contributions capped November 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has ripped up the salary sacrifice scheme regime, to the chagrin of both employers and employees, and could potentially put Brits’ pension savings at risk. Salary sacrifice allows employees to give up a portion of their salary for other benefits, such as childcare vouchers and electric vehicle grants, reducing total income and [...]
Budget: Reeves introduces ‘permanently lower’ taxes for retail and hospitality November 26, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has confirmed she will introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure firms, paid for by higher levies on big properties. Retailers have been crying out for business rates reform for years, with concerns that the tax creates an unfair playing field between high street and online firms, which only owe [...]