Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered the 2026 Spring Statement to the House of Commons on 3rd March 2026. This was an economic update rather than a fiscal event with no major tax changes and no sweeping policy shifts. The focus was mainly on existing plans and updated forecasts with the Statement being only three months after the tax-raising Autumn Budget announced on 26th November 2025.
Below we have summarised a few of the key points to be aware of from April 2026:
Personal Tax Thresholds
Chancellor Reeves gave certainty that personal tax thresholds won't change again until at least the next Autumn Budget with the current plan being to freeze personal allowances and the higher rate threshold until April 2031. This offers short-term predictability for individual tax planning, though means that thresholds will likely remain unchanged for 10 years.
For more information on upcoming changes to personal tax rates and reliefs please refer to our Autumn 2025 budget review.
Business Asset Disposal Relief
The Capital Gains Tax rate payable on disposals qualifying for Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) will rise to 18% from April 2026 having previously been payable at 14%.
Capital Allowances
From April 2026, the main rate of writing-down allowances reduces by 4 percentage points to 14%. This is partly offset by a new first-year allowance of 40% for new and unused plant and machinery, introduced from 1 January 2026, intended to preserve incentives for capital investment. The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) continues to be available for most businesses on qualifying expenditure of up to £1 million per annum.
Fuel duty
The temporary 5p cut to fuel duty has been retained until September, providing continued relief for fuel-dependent businesses.
