Budget

Chancellor John Healey has claimed growth is at the "heart of fiscal challenges" facing the UK, as he refused to rule out tax rises ahead of his maiden Budget next month. The Chancellor ignored questions about whether households and businesses were set to face another set of tax rises in October, fo

Chancellor John Healey is facing "sleepless nights" over a growing "inflation monster" due to surging oil prices, rising interest rate expectations and spikes in government gilt yields threatening markets on both sides of the Atlantic ahead of his inaugural Budget. High borrowing costs are expected

Treasury officials have presented Chancellor John Healey with a plan to tax oil firms and banks to help rebuild his £22.7bn fiscal buffer, according to reports. Officials believe that a new windfall tax on banks and a further increase on oil firms could help increase government receipts squeez

The UK collected a record £24.2 billion in capital gains tax in 2024/25, according to new data released on Thursday, following Rachel Reeves' decision to raise the rate in her first Budget. HM Revenue & Customs revealed an 89% increase in capital gains tax receipts compared with the previo

Investors and analysts have warned Chancellor John Healey not to give up on the government's efforts to reduce the UK's fiscal deficit in his first Budget, following a spike in government bond yields in recent weeks. Mr Healey is preparing to unveil his first Budget on October 28 at a time when inve

HM Revenue and Customs has collected £322.7 billion in total from National Insurance contributions and tax between April and July 2026, compared with the same period last year. The total represents a £21bn increase on the same four-month period last year, when HMRC collected £301.7

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced she will deliver her Spring Statement on 3 March, providing an update on the UK’s economy and public finances. She has instructed the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to accompany the statement on the same

A survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has captured the worries of the UK business community, which is seen as adding to an already complex tax system and lacking in direction to promote economic growth. The poll, drawing on feedback from finance professionals working

Equity funds are grappling with their deepest and most prolonged period of withdrawals on record, with investors removing over £10 billion in the past six months alone. According to data from the global funds network Calastone, November marked the second-worst month on record, with a net &poun

A major VAT reform announced in the Budget will remove a longstanding tax charge that has discouraged businesses from donating surplus goods to charity, Greg McNally writes. The new relief, due to take effect from 1 April 2026, is designed to stop usable products being sent unnecessarily to landfill

Richard Hughes, chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), has taken the "unusual step" of publishing the evolution of the watchdog’s economic forecasts, confirming that Chancellor Rachel Reeves knew she had met her financial targets days before warning the public of a dire economic

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Autumn Budget has drawn a sharp intake of breath from Scotland’s financial and business community.

Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has said the UK government's Autumn Budget offers little meaningful support to unlock the growth potential of rural Scotland. Ahead of the Budget, SLE wrote to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves MP, urging targeted measures to ease pressures on rural businesses – i

Taxi and private hire fares are set to rise significantly as a result of changes in the Autumn Budget which will impose VAT at 20% on most taxi private vehicle hire fares from the start of 2026, writes Greg McNally. The change is expected to raise approximately £700 million a year. It effectiv

Leading figures in the Scotland's whisky industry have criticised Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to increase alcohol duty in the Autumn Budget, warning the move will stifle growth, cost jobs, and reduce government revenue. The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) described the RPI inflation-lin