Sunny Bharj
Independent Financial Adviser
Tony Springer
Independent Financial Adviser
The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October 2026. Several changes to pensions, ISAs and inheritance tax are already law and take effect between April 2027 and April 2031.
The Chancellor confirmed the date in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee on 31 July 2026, and the Office for Budget Responsibility publishes its forecast alongside it.
Most of these changes were announced at the Budget on 26 November 2025 and became law in Finance Act 2026 on 18 March 2026. A Budget can amend any of them, and a change normally needs a Finance Act or regulations before it takes effect.
Finance Act 2026; National Insurance Contributions (Employer Pensions Contributions) Act 2026; HMRC policy papers of 26 November 2025 and 17 September 2026. Checked 13 October 2026.
Unused pension money and pension death benefits count toward your estate for inheritance tax. Income tax on savings interest rises to 22%, 42% and 47%. The lower cash ISA limit for anyone under 65 starts.
The minimum age for taking money from a personal pension rises from 55 to 57.
The National Insurance limit on salary sacrifice pension contributions starts.
The inheritance tax nil rate band and residence nil rate band, the personal allowance and the higher rate threshold stay frozen until this date.
The main rates are 18% within the basic rate band and 24% above it, and have been since 30 October 2024. That increase applied to disposals made from the day of the Budget that announced it.
The annual exempt amount is £3,000 for 2026/27. Capital gains tax sets out the rates, the allowance and the reliefs.
From 6 April 2027 the money left in your pension when you die counts as part of your estate for inheritance tax. Until then, most pensions sit outside it.
Read more →You can pay £20,000 a year into ISAs, split across as many as you like, with no tax on the growth or the income. Some of the rules change on 6 April 2027.
Read more →You pay it on the profit when you sell something that has gone up in value, and only on the part above your annual exemption.
Read more →Some gifts are exempt from inheritance tax the moment you make them. Others leave your estate only if you survive seven years.
Read more →You can normally take 25% free of tax and the rest is taxed as income.
Read more →A limited company can pay into a director's pension and deduct the payment from its profits for corporation tax.
Read more →Wednesday 28 October 2026. The Chancellor confirmed the date in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee on 31 July 2026.
Yes. A later Finance Act can amend an earlier one, and the ISA limits are set by regulations, which can also be amended. A Budget announcement normally needs that legislation before it takes effect, though some measures apply from the day they are announced.
Acting on a change that has not been announced can cost money if it does not happen, and a pension lump sum, once paid, cannot be paid back in without the risk of a tax charge. The changes already in law are a firmer basis for a decision, and the right decision depends on your own income, savings and estate.
Pensions tax, ISAs, inheritance tax, National Insurance, capital gains tax and the tax on savings interest are UK-wide. Scotland sets its own income tax bands on earnings and pensions, so the £50,270 higher rate threshold applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Tax treatment depends on your individual circumstances and on current rules, both of which can change. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate tax advice, trusts or estate planning.
Once taken, the money is outside the pension and inside your estate.
Read the answer →Under-65s can pay no more than £12,000 a year into cash ISAs. The overall allowance stays at £20,000.
Read the answer →Until 5 April 2031. The £325,000 and £175,000 bands and the £2 million taper point are all fixed until then.
Read the answer →From 6 April 2029 only the first £2,000 a year stays free of National Insurance. Income tax relief does not change.
Read the answer →Work out whether your estate will be over the bands with the pension in it. Nominations, gifts and life cover in trust are among the options.
Read the answer →Independent Financial Adviser
Independent Financial Adviser
Twenty statements about money that sort into four patterns, with a written report on the pattern your answers fit.
The first conversation takes about twenty minutes and is at no cost to you. Tell us what is on your mind: a pension you have lost track of, a fixed rate ending, a will you keep meaning to write.