Autumn Budget 2026: 6 Money Moves to Make Before 28 October

The Autumn Budget is delivered on Wednesday 28 October 2026. The headlines on the day will be about what the Chancellor announces — but a surprising amount of what affects your money is already decided and cannot change on the day. This guide separates what is confirmed, what is genuinely undecided, and what is pure speculation, and sets out six sensible moves to make before Budget day.

The date that matters

The Budget speech is expected at around 12:30pm on Wednesday 28 October 2026, straight after Prime Minister’s Questions, with the Office for Budget Responsibility publishing its economic and fiscal forecast the same day. Two dates just before it matter for your money: VAT on household electricity was cut to zero on 1 October 2026 (currently running to 31 March 2027), and the September inflation figure — published in mid-October — sets next April’s benefit uprating and completes the triple-lock calculation for the State Pension.

Already decided: the Budget cannot change these

A lot of what gets reported as “Budget news” was already law before 28 October. As things stand:

• Cash ISAs: the annual cash ISA subscription limit falls to £12,000 for savers under 65 from 6 April 2027 (the overall ISA allowance stays £20,000; savers 65 and over keep a £20,000 cash limit). This is now law under the ISA (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026.
• Pensions and inheritance tax: most unused pension funds come within the scope of inheritance tax from 6 April 2027, legislated in Finance Act 2026.
• Frozen thresholds: income tax thresholds stay frozen to April 2031 — the £12,570 personal allowance and the £50,270 higher-rate threshold.
• Savings and property income: tax rates rise by two percentage points from April 2027 (to 22%, 42% and 47%).
• Dividends: dividend tax rose to 10.75% (basic rate) and 35.75% (higher rate) from April 2026.
• Salary sacrifice: the National Insurance saving on pension salary sacrifice is capped at £2,000 of contributions a year from April 2029.
• Making Tax Digital: the income-tax rules extend to sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £30,000 from April 2027.
• Everyday bills: VAT on domestic electricity is zero from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027; a £2 cap on many single bus fares starts in January 2027.

Genuinely undecided: what to watch on the day

These have a real decision attached on 28 October:

• the Capital Gains Tax annual exempt amount (currently £3,000);
• the Plan 2 student-loan repayment threshold from April 2027;
• what happens to the electricity VAT zero rate after 31 March 2027;
• the National Living Wage from April 2027;
• the new annual surcharge on homes worth £2 million or more, due from April 2028.

Only speculation: do not act on rumours

Property-tax reform, changes to pension tax-free cash, wealth taxes and further ISA changes are all speculation until they are said at the despatch box. A rumour on its own is a poor reason to sell an asset, restructure a business or draw on a pension — ahead of recent Budgets some savers withdrew pension tax-free cash to beat a change that never came, and many could not reverse it.

Six money moves to make before 28 October

1. Use this year’s ISA allowance on today’s terms. You can subscribe up to £20,000 across ISAs in 2026/27, and cash-ISA rules tighten next April. If you hold large cash savings, consider filling your allowance now rather than after the rules change.
2. Top up your pension while relief is at your marginal rate. Pension contributions attract tax relief at your marginal rate today. “Carry forward” lets you use unused annual allowance (currently £60,000 a year) from the previous three tax years — a genuine catch-up mechanism for a big year.
3. Know your £3,000 capital-gains allowance. Don’t rush a sale purely on rumour — but if you already planned to sell investments, using this year’s annual exempt amount is a use-it-or-lose-it decision worth making deliberately.
4. Review salary sacrifice while it is uncapped. The £2,000-a-year NI-saving cap starts in April 2029, so extra sacrifice years between now and then remain valuable — especially for higher-rate taxpayers.
5. Check pension nominations and your will. With unused pensions entering the inheritance-tax net from April 2027, an up-to-date expression-of-wish form and a reviewed estate plan matter more than they used to.
6. Budget for April’s bill changes. Electricity VAT returns after March 2027 and savings and property income tax rises by two points — build the buffer into your budget now, not in April.

If you are in the US or Canada: your year-end equivalents

The UK’s Budget is a watching brief; the April 2027 changes are the ones to plan around. In the US and Canada, the equivalent deadline is 31 December.

After 28 October: we will update this guide

Once the Budget documents are published we will update this page with what actually changed — the capital-gains allowance, the student-loan threshold, the electricity VAT decision, the National Living Wage and the property surcharge detail. Bookmark it and check back.