Legal experts at Russell-Cooke LLP have shared their response to the 2025 Autumn Budget, highlighting key impacts for business owners, farmers, landlords, and savers. While the Budget addressed some longstanding issues with business and agricultural property relief, other anticipated changes, including pension and ISA reforms, were limited, leaving many individuals facing higher tax burdens on savings, dividends, and rental income.
Edward Harper-Masters, Legal Director in the private client team at law firm Russell-Cooke, LLP:
‘This was a welcome correction to one of the obvious problems with the proposed reforms to BPR and APR. It is unfortunate that it has taken so long be addressed, despite the strong protestations of the business and farming communities when the details of the reforms were first announced. Business owners, farmers and professional advisors have expended a lot of time and money in the intervening months putting remedial plans in place to ensure that the allowance isn’t lost if a death occurs soon after April 2026. This could have been avoided had the allowance been transferable from the outset.
While the Budget did not contain any other dramatic changes to inheritance tax, it is worth noting that receipts from this tax are forecasted to increase from £8.7 billion this tax year to £14.5 billion in the 2030-2031 tax year (a 66% increase). This reflects the impact of existing changes, particularly bringing pensions within the scope of the inheritance tax net from 2027 and the BPR and APR changes taking effect from next April. In short, the damage is already done.’
Angharad Lynn, Partner in the private client team at law firm Russell-Cooke, LLP:
Many of the most highly anticipated changes did not end up happening, with the pensions cash free lump sum remaining and no changes to the taxation of LLPs, no entry or exit charges for those coming to or leaving the UK, and no changes to the NRB or RNRB.
The changes to pension salary sacrifice seem counterintuitive if trying to encourage individuals to save and the same could be said for the reduction in the amount that can be saved into a cash ISA, which is likely to affect less well-off savers. However, it is good news that the overall ISA allowance did not decease, as had been anticipated.
Landlords, who are still reeling from the changes coming in under the Renters Rights Act will now see their rental income taxed at higher rates than employment income – at up to 47%. Increases to dividend and savings income mean that savers will pay more on the money they save, leaving people worse off.
