When is the Autumn Budget?

When is the Autumn Budget?

This year’s event takes place on Wednesday 26th November 2025 and begins at around midday. That’s when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, having wielded the famous red box, stands up to deliver her speech in the House of Commons. 

The Treasury’s current policy is to hold a single main Budget each year. A supplementary ‘Spring Statement’ provides a half-year interim economic update, usually without major announcements.

What is the purpose of the Autumn Budget?

The Autumn Budget is the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s major financial statement of the year. It outlines plans for spending, the tax system, and the economy, and is accompanied by forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR). 

The OBR is an independent body that models the economy and provides five-year projections of growth, borrowing, and debt to help assess the impact of the Chancellor’s policies and decisions. 

Who delivers the Budget?

The Chancellor, currently Rachel Reeves, delivers the Budget to MPs. However, the preparation is made by teams of Treasury officials, who also implement the changes with the assistance of other government departments.

How long is Rachel Reeves’ Budget speech?

The speech normally lasts around an hour and serves to outline the major announcements. The precise details and the comprehensive figures are revealed immediately afterwards in accompanying documents – often there is devil in the detail.

Why is the Budget important?

The Budget communicates the government’s intentions for the management of the UK economy, setting priorities and unveiling specific policies. These impact individuals and businesses, as well as the economy as a whole, so it’s relevant to everyone in the UK.

More specifically, there can be changes to duties on things like fuel, alcohol, or tobacco, as well as alterations to rates of tax and tax-free allowances that impact how much people receive from income and investment. 

The Budget can affect benefits and welfare payments too. However, there’s not likely to be much announced in this area in this upcoming event as a welfare bill was recently voted through by MPs.

How could the Autumn Budget 2025 affect investors?

The Budget can influence how your investments perform, depending on how the government decides to spend, borrow, and tax. If borrowing rises or spending isn’t accounted for by tax receipts, it could push up interest rates and bond yields – which affects returns on savings and fixed-income investments. It might also move the value of the pound, which matters if you invest internationally.

Changes to taxes or funding in specific sectors – such as property, energy, or gambling – can cause share prices in those industries to rise or fall. If you hold stocks or funds in those areas, it’s worth paying attention. Changes might also affect sentiment around a broader range of stocks thought to be impacted by the fortunes of the UK economy more generally.

The Budget might also tweak rules around ISAs, pensions, or personal tax. For example, if pension tax relief is reduced or ISA limits are changed – it can really impact your investment strategy and long-term returns.

What is likely to be in the Autumn Budget? 

There is always considerable speculation about what the Budget will contain, and that’s especially the case this year. The Chancellor faces a daunting challenge – how to plug a hole in the nation’s finances without breaking manifesto pledges or derailing fragile economic growth. 

In accordance with her self-imposed ‘fiscal rules’, the Chancellor has pledged to balance the UK’s day-to-day budget by the end of the parliament and reduce debt. But, with growth slowing and the cost of debt interest rising, meeting these targets may require painful decisions. As significant spending cuts are politically difficult to pull off, tax rises are highly likely.

So far, there are suggestions she will look to property taxes, as well as wealth taxes such as capital gains tax and inheritance tax (IHT) to help replenish Treasury coffers. But given the size of the gap between spending and revenue she may need to consider whether to raise income tax, national insurance, or VAT, which are larger components of the tax take. However, these are subject to previous pledges around protecting working people, so she may just extend a freeze on income tax thresholds to help balance the books.

You can explore our latest Budget commentary and expert insights by visiting our Budget knowledge hub – designed to help you make smarter personal finance decisions and stay ahead of the curve. Our team of experts will also be providing timely updates and commentary on X (formerly Twitter) as it happens on the day. Follow @_Charlesstanley to stay in the know.

How soon do changes take effect? 

Budget announcements don’t usually take place straight away and are ordinarily written into law as part of a Finance Bill that must pass through parliament. Most changes therefore apply from the following tax year – starting on the 6th April – or from a subsequent tax year.

However, some changes such as tax rates or thresholds can take effect immediately. Although this is rare, it did occur with rates of capital gains tax in last year’s Budget.