Budget 2025: Key points at a glance

Adapted from a BBC news article, 26 November 2025

Rachel Reeves has set out details of her second Budget since becoming Chancellor.

A number of measures from the yearly tax and spending plan had already been announced in the days leading up to the statement.

Other measures were revealed by accident after the UK's budgetary watchdog mistakenly published its official forecast early.

Here is a summary of the main points.

Personal taxation

National Insurance (NI) and income tax thresholds frozen for an extra three years beyond 2028, dragging more people into higher bands over time

Amount under-65s can put into cash Isas (Individual Savings Accounts) capped at £12,000 a year, with the rest of the £20,000 annual allowance reserved for investments

Basic and higher income tax rates on property, savings and dividend income to increase by 2 percentage points

Wages, benefits and pensions

The cap limiting households on universal or child tax credit from receiving payments for a third or subsequent child to be scrapped from April

Legal minimum wage for over-21s to rise 4.1% in April, from £12.21 to £12.71 per hour

Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds to go up 8.5%, from £10 to £10.85 per hour, as part of a plan to establish a single rate for all adults Basic and new state pension payments to go up by 4.8% from April, more than the current rate of inflation, under the "triple lock" policy

The amount people can sacrifice from their salary to avoid paying NI on pension contributions is capped at £2,000 a year from 2029

Help to Save scheme, which offers people on universal credit a bonus on savings, has been extended and expanded beyond 2027

Housing and property

A terrace of colourful houses in London

Properties in England worth more than £2m to face a council tax surcharge of between £2,500-£7,500, following a revaluation of homes in bands F, G and H

Transport

5p "temporary" cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel extended again, until September 2026 before it rises again over a six-month period

A new mileage-based tax for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid cars to be introduced from 2028

Regulated rail fares for journeys in England frozen next year for the first time since 1996 (there have been periods when prices rose by less than inflation)

Premium cars to be excluded from the Motability scheme, which allows people on certain disability benefits to lease vehicles more cheaply

Business taxes

Tax exemption for small packages from overseas retailers worth under £135 will be scrapped from 2029, following complaints it hinders UK businesses

Tax on profits made by gambling firms from online bets to rise from 21% to 40% in April, alongside the abolition of the 10% bingo tax

Food and drink

Tax on sugary drinks extended to pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes from 2028, reversing an exemption when the tax was introduced in 2018

UK growth, inflation and debt

Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts the UK economy will grow by 1.5% this year, upgraded from a 1% forecast in March

Inflation is predicted to average 3.5% this year, before falling to 2.5% next year, and returning to the government's 2% target in 2027

Other measures

English regional mayors to be given powers to tax overnight stays in hotels and holiday lets, echoing existing plans in Scotland and Wales

Cost of a single NHS prescription in England frozen at £9.90 for another year (they remain free in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland)