Budget 2025 Summary: Spring Statement and Autumn Budget Recap

2025 was a year of fiscal consolidation rather than headline tax cuts or rises. The Spring Statement on 26 March 2025 was a forecast-only event - no new tax measures - and the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025 set the architecture for 2026/27 (covered in detail in our separate Budget 2026 summary page). This page recaps both events and the 2025/26 tax-year rules in force across the calendar year. Figures are anchored to the same TaxRuleset that powers our calculators, with gov.uk sources listed in the citations.

Headline: forecast update and consolidation

The Labour government had committed in 2024 to running only one tax-changing fiscal event per year, alongside a Spring Statement restricted to OBR forecast updates. 2025 was the first full calendar year on that timetable. The Spring Statement 2025 on 26 March was deliberately positioned as a no-tax-changes update: the OBR refreshed its economic and fiscal outlook, downgrading 2025 real GDP growth from 2.0% (October 2024) to 1.0%, and the Chancellor announced welfare and departmental savings to maintain fiscal headroom against the main fiscal rule.

The Autumn Budget 2025 on 26 November was the set-piece tax event of the year. Its main personal-tax announcement was the extension of the Personal Allowance and income-tax threshold freeze from the previous April-2028 end date out to April 2030 - a further two-year continuation of the freeze policy that has run since 2021/22. Other headline numbers were largely left in place: 8% employee NI, 15% employer NI, £500 dividend allowance, £20,000 ISA, £60,000 pension Annual Allowance, £325,000 / £175,000 IHT bands. Capital Gains Tax stayed at the 18% / 24% schedule that took effect on 30 October 2024 and ran for the full 2025/26 year. The 5% SDLT additional-dwelling surcharge (also from 31 October 2024) continued into and through 2025/26 unchanged. The Autumn Budget 2025 also confirmed the abolition of the non-dom regime that had taken effect on 6 April 2025 and the planned changes to Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief from April 2026.

Personal Allowance and the frozen thresholds

The Personal Allowance for 2025/26 remained £12,570, the same cash figure as every tax year since 2021/22. The higher-rate threshold stayed at £50,270 and the additional-rate threshold at £125,140. The Autumn Budget 2025 extended the freeze of all three to at least April 2030, a further two-year extension on top of the original 2028 end date.

The PA taper was unchanged: the allowance reduces by £1 for every £2 of adjusted net income above £100,000, fully withdrawn by £125,140. The 60% effective marginal rate on Income Tax alone (62% with employee NI) on the £25,140 slice between £100,000 and £125,140 continued to pull a steadily larger share of higher earners into its grip.

Fiscal drag in 2025/26 was the largest revenue-raising lever in the Treasury's hand by a significant margin. The OBR's November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook estimated that the freeze had now added around 4 million additional Income Tax payers and around 2 million additional higher-rate taxpayers since 2021/22, with the two-year extension announced in the Autumn Budget projected to raise around £8 billion a year by 2029/30 in addition to the pre-existing freeze yield.

Income tax rates and bands (England, Wales, Northern Ireland)

The 2025/26 bands were identical to 2024/25 (and to every year since the additional-rate threshold was cut from £150,000 to £125,140 in April 2023). Neither the Spring Statement nor the Autumn Budget moved the band structure.

Band Taxable income Equivalent gross Rate
Personal Allowance - £0 - £12,570 0%
Basic rate £0 - £37,700 £12,570 - £50,270 20%
Higher rate £37,700 - £125,140 £50,270 - £137,710 40%
Additional rate £125,140 - above £137,710 - above 45%

The 40% band continued to cover the £50,270 to £125,140 span - a £74,870 stretch in which the marginal Income Tax rate was unchanged. The 45% additional rate continued to bite from £125,140, producing the now-familiar geometry where the marginal rate falls from 62% (PA-taper band with NI) to 47% above £125,140.

National Insurance: 15% employer rate in force

2025/26 was the first full tax year on the new employer NI structure legislated at the Autumn Budget 2024. From 6 April 2025 the employer Class 1 secondary rate rose from 13.8% to 15%, and the Secondary Threshold fell from £9,100 to £5,000 - changes that took effect at the start of the year and continued throughout. Employee Class 1 stayed at the 8% main rate that had taken effect on 6 April 2024.

Employer NIC became the most expensive single line for businesses hiring during 2025/26. A £40,000 employee generated roughly £5,250 in employer Class 1 NIC alone (15% on £40,000 minus £5,000 ST), versus around £4,265 under the previous 13.8% / £9,100 structure - a roughly 23% increase in the employer NIC cost of an average salary. The change also made salary-sacrifice arrangements materially more attractive to employers, since the employer NIC saved on a sacrificed amount went from 13.8% to 15%. The salary sacrifice calculator models the full employer + employee effect.

Dividend allowance and rates

The Dividend Allowance for 2025/26 stayed at £500, the same level set on 6 April 2024 when it was cut from £1,000. The rates were unchanged:

Dividends still did not attract National Insurance, but the employer NI rise made the arithmetic of an owner-manager salary + dividend mix notably more favourable. A typical contractor outside IR35 paying themselves a £12,570 salary plus dividends had marginal corporation-tax-plus-dividend-tax combined rates of around 26% (basic-rate) and 47% (higher-rate) on small-company profits - similar to the pre-2024 arithmetic, but with a wider gap versus the employer-cost equivalent. See the contractor calculator for the full mix.

Capital Gains Tax: full year of 18% / 24%

2025/26 was the first full tax year on the post-30-October-2024 CGT schedule. The basic-rate CGT was 18% on gains falling within the basic-rate Income Tax band, and the higher / additional-rate 24% on gains above. The schedule applied to all assets including residential property. The Annual Exempt Amount stayed at £3,000.

The 24% top rate was materially higher than the 20% that had applied to non-residential gains pre-October 2024, so disposals planned around the boundary date continued to need careful tracking through the 2025/26 self-assessment cycle. The CGT calculator uses the full-year 2025/26 schedule by default.

Stamp Duty: 5% surcharge in force, thresholds reset 1 April 2025

SDLT bands in England and Northern Ireland reset on 1 April 2025 when the temporary nil-rate threshold lift introduced in September 2022 was unwound. The 5% additional-dwelling surcharge that came in on 31 October 2024 continued in force throughout 2025/26.

The 1 April 2025 reset meant a first-time buyer on a £400,000 home paid £5,000 of SDLT in 2025/26 versus nothing on the same purchase completed by 31 March 2025 - a sizable cliff at the boundary date. The 5% additional-dwelling surcharge added a further 5% on top of every band for buy-to-let and second-home purchases. Scotland uses its own LBTT and Wales uses LTT, neither of which followed the rUK reset. The Stamp Duty calculator models the full set including the additional-dwelling and non-resident surcharges.

Non-dom abolition: the FIG regime takes effect

6 April 2025 was the operative date for the abolition of the remittance basis of taxation for UK-resident non-doms. The previous regime - in which UK residents who claimed non-domicile status could elect to be taxed on UK income and gains but not on unremitted foreign income or gains - was replaced by a residence-based four-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime for new UK arrivals.

Under the FIG regime, an individual who has not been UK-resident in any of the immediately preceding ten tax years is taxed only on UK-source income and gains in their first four UK-resident years. After four years they fall fully into UK arising-basis taxation - the same regime as any other UK resident. The protected non-resident trust structures for long-term non-doms were phased out by the same legislation.

The Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) was opened for the 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 tax years, allowing individuals with pre-April 2025 foreign income and gains stuck offshore on the old regime to remit them at preferential flat rates of 12% in 2025/26 and 2026/27, rising to 15% in 2027/28. The Autumn Budget 2025 confirmed the schedule was working as intended and announced minor administrative tweaks.

Inheritance Tax on non-doms also moved to a residence-based regime from 6 April 2025: individuals who have been UK-resident for at least 10 of the previous 20 tax years (a "long-term resident") fall fully into UK IHT, including on their worldwide assets. The previous "deemed domicile" rules were retired. The Autumn Budget 2025 left the schedule intact.

VAT on private school fees: first full year

The VAT exemption for private school fees was removed from 1 January 2025. The Spring Statement 2025 and Autumn Budget 2025 both left the change in place; 2025/26 was the first full academic year of the new regime running through to August 2026. Schools were registered for VAT, charged 20% on tuition fees and reclaimed input VAT on related expenditure. Business rates relief for private schools in England was also removed from 1 April 2025.

IFS analysis published during 2025 confirmed the original yield estimate of around £1.7 billion a year by 2029/30. Early data from the Independent Schools Council showed a pupil-roll drop of around 2-3% at the September 2025 entry, broadly consistent with the OBR's modelling.

ISA and pension allowances

All the headline allowances stayed at their 2024/25 levels through 2025/26:

The Autumn Budget 2025 opened a consultation on ISA simplification, including the possible merger of Cash ISA and Stocks & Shares ISA into a single £20,000 wrapper with no internal sub-limit (Lifetime ISA's £4,000 sub-limit would be retained). No legislative change was made for the 2025/26 or 2026/27 years - the consultation is expected to feed into the 2027/28 architecture. The ISA allowance explainer tracks the current schedule.

Inheritance Tax: frozen and pension change confirmed

Inheritance Tax thresholds remained frozen through 2025/26, with the Autumn Budget 2025 extending the freeze of the Nil-Rate Band and Residence Nil-Rate Band to at least April 2030.

The bigger structural change for IHT was confirmed at the Autumn Budget 2025: unused defined-contribution pension pots will be brought into the IHT estate from 6 April 2027 (a change first announced at the Autumn Budget 2024). Draft legislation was published during 2025 and consulted on through the year. Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief restructuring from 6 April 2026 (100% relief on the first £1m of qualifying assets, 50% above) was also confirmed by the Autumn Budget 2025. The Inheritance Tax calculator models the combined NRB / RNRB / spousal-transfer arithmetic.

Scotland: Starter and Basic widened

The Scottish Budget 2025-26 (published December 2024) widened the Starter rate band to £2,827 and the Basic rate band to £14,921, in part to provide modest relief to lower-income taxpayers while keeping the six-band structure intact. The Top rate of 48% above £125,140 (introduced for 2024/25) was unchanged.

Band Taxable income Rate
Starter rate £0 - £2,827 19%
Scottish basic rate £2,827 - £14,921 20%
Intermediate rate £14,921 - £31,092 21%
Higher rate £31,092 - £62,430 42%
Advanced rate £62,430 - £112,570 45%
Top rate £112,570 - above 48%

In cash terms, a £45,000 salary in 2025/26 produced take-home of around £35,920 in rUK and about £35,492 in Scotland - a gap of around £428 a year. The gap widens further up the income scale as the Scottish higher (42%), advanced (45%) and top (48%) rates kick in. National Insurance and the Personal Allowance remained UK-wide. See the Scottish income tax guide for the full set of comparisons across income bands.

Worked example: a £45,000 worker across the cycle

To anchor the page in a concrete payslip, consider a worker earning £45,000 gross in England across the 2024/25, 2025/26 and 2026/27 tax years. The salary engine returns the following figures (reproducible via the on-site calculator with the tax-year selector):

Line 2024/25 2025/26 2026/27
Gross salary £45,000 £45,000 £45,000
Personal Allowance £12,570 £12,570 £12,570
Income Tax £6,486 £6,486 £6,486
Employee Class 1 NI £2,594 £2,594 £2,594
Total deductions £9,080 £9,080 £9,080
Take-home (annual) £35,920 £35,920 £35,920
Take-home (monthly) £2,993 £2,993 £2,993
Employer NIC £4,954 £6,000 £6,000

The 2024/25 to 2025/26 change at the £45,000 income level was small (about £0 a year) because both years sat on the same 8% employee NI, the same £12,570 Personal Allowance and the same band structure. The 2025/26 to 2026/27 step is similarly small (about £0) because the freeze and rate structure all continued. The headline employer-side change is the Employer NIC line, which jumped from £4,954 in 2024/25 (13.8% above £9,100) to £6,000 in 2025/26 (15% above £5,000) - a roughly 21% rise.

Run any other gross through the salary calculator and switch the tax-year selector across the three years to see the same trajectory on your own figures. Every number on this page traces to the same TaxRuleset that powers the on-site calculator, which in turn cites the gov.uk sources listed in the citations and on our methodology page.

Frequently asked questions

What were the two UK fiscal events in 2025?
There were two: the Spring Statement on 26 March 2025 (Rachel Reeves' first Spring Statement, a forecast-only event rather than a Budget) and the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025 (the second Budget of the Labour government, setting the rules for the 2026/27 tax year). The Spring Statement did not introduce any new tax measures - it updated the OBR economic and fiscal outlook and announced some welfare and spending changes. The Autumn Budget added the 2026/27 personal-tax architecture, which is covered in detail in our separate Budget 2026 summary page.
Did Spring Statement 2025 change any tax rates?
No - the Spring Statement 2025 was deliberately positioned as a fiscal update rather than a tax event. The Chancellor had committed to one major fiscal event per year, and the personal-tax architecture for 2025/26 was already legislated through the Autumn Budget 2024. The Spring Statement therefore confirmed the rates that took effect on 6 April 2025 (employer NI 15% and £5,000 Secondary Threshold, CGT 18% / 24%, 5% SDLT additional-dwelling surcharge, non-dom abolition, VAT on private school fees) without altering them.
What was the OBR forecast at Spring Statement 2025?
The OBR downgraded its 2025 real GDP growth forecast from 2.0% (set in October 2024) to 1.0%, citing higher gilt yields, weaker business sentiment after the Autumn Budget 2024, and softer-than-expected consumer demand. CPI inflation was forecast to stay above 3% through the first half of 2025 before falling back toward the 2% target by 2026. The fiscal headroom against the Chancellor's main rule had been narrowed by the higher debt-interest cost of the gilt-yield rise, prompting around £14 billion of welfare and departmental savings announcements to restore the headroom.
What did the Autumn Budget 2025 announce?
The Autumn Budget 2025 set the architecture for the 2026/27 tax year. It extended the freeze on the Personal Allowance, the higher-rate threshold and the additional-rate threshold to April 2030, kept the 8% employee NI / 15% employer NI rate combo in place, left CGT on the 18% / 24% schedule, kept the Dividend Allowance at £500, kept the ISA allowance at £20,000 and the pension Annual Allowance at £60,000. Full details on the 2026/27 numbers are at our separate Budget 2026 summary page.
What employer NI rate took effect in 2025/26?
The Autumn Budget 2024 had legislated an increase to the employer Class 1 secondary rate from 13.8% to 15%, and a cut to the Secondary Threshold from £9,100 to £5,000, both effective 6 April 2025. The 2025/26 tax year was therefore the first full year on the 15% / £5,000 ST structure. On a £40,000 employee that translated to around £5,250 of employer NIC, compared with around £4,265 under the previous 13.8% / £9,100 structure - a roughly 23% increase in the employer NIC cost of an average salary.
Did the Personal Allowance change in 2025/26?
No - the Personal Allowance for 2025/26 stayed at £12,570, the same level it had held since 2021/22. The higher-rate threshold stayed at £50,270 and the additional-rate threshold at £125,140. The freeze was originally legislated to end in April 2028, and the Autumn Budget 2025 extended it to April 2030. Fiscal drag continued to pull additional taxpayers into higher bands.
How did Capital Gains Tax apply in 2025/26?
CGT in 2025/26 was at the post-30-October-2024 schedule for the full tax year: 18% basic-rate and 24% higher / additional-rate on gains for all assets including residential property. The Annual Exempt Amount stayed at £3,000. Business Asset Disposal Relief rose from 10% to 14% from 6 April 2025 (the first step of the planned increase to 18% from 6 April 2026), still on the first £1m of lifetime qualifying gains.
Was the non-dom regime fully abolished?
Yes - the abolition of the remittance basis for UK-resident non-doms took effect on 6 April 2025, replacing the previous regime with a four-year Foreign Income and Gains (FIG) regime for new UK arrivals who have not been UK-resident in the previous ten tax years. After four years they fall fully into UK arising-basis taxation. The Temporary Repatriation Facility (TRF) for pre-April 2025 foreign income and gains was open through 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 at preferential 12% / 12% / 15% rates respectively.
Did the dividend allowance change in 2025/26?
No - the Dividend Allowance for 2025/26 stayed at £500, the same level set on 6 April 2024 when it was cut from £1,000. The rates also stayed at 8.75% (ordinary), 33.75% (upper) and 39.35% (additional). Neither the Spring Statement nor the Autumn Budget 2025 moved any dividend numbers.
Did ISA or pension allowances change?
No - all the headline allowances remained at their 2024/25 levels through 2025/26. ISA £20,000, Junior ISA £9,000, Lifetime ISA £4,000, pension Annual Allowance £60,000, Money Purchase Annual Allowance £10,000, tapered allowance from £260,000 of adjusted income down to a £10,000 floor. The Autumn Budget 2025 announced consultations on simplification of the ISA suite, including the possible merger of Cash ISA and Stocks & Shares ISA, but no immediate changes for the tax year.
What changed for inheritance tax around the 2025 events?
The Nil-Rate Band (£325,000) and Residence Nil-Rate Band (£175,000) stayed frozen. The Autumn Budget 2025 extended the freeze to April 2030. The Autumn Budget 2024 change to bring unused defined-contribution pension pots into the IHT estate from April 2027 was confirmed; draft legislation was published during 2025. Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief were also confirmed for restructuring from 6 April 2026, with 100% relief available only on the first £1m of qualifying assets and 50% relief on the value above.
How did £45k take-home evolve across the 2024/25 to 2026/27 cycle?
On £45,000 of gross salary in England, the engine returns take-home of £35,920 for 2024/25, £35,920 for 2025/26 and £35,920 for 2026/27. The 2024/25 to 2025/26 change was small in cash terms (about £0 a year) because both years sat on the same 8% employee NI and frozen Personal Allowance. The 2025/26 to 2026/27 step is similarly small because the freeze continued, isolating fiscal drag from any policy change. Most movement at the £45k income level since the start of the cycle has come from the January and April 2024 NI cuts, not from subsequent Budgets.

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