Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first Budget on Wednesday 28 October, the first under Prime Minister Andy Burnham's government. With just one week to go, here's a quick, practical guide to what's already confirmed, what's being discussed, and what your business can do to prepare.

What's already confirmed for this Budget
What's being discussed (and what isn't confirmed)
Changes taking effect from previous Budgets
Why markets will watch the Autumn Budget closely
What your business can do now
How Wise Business can help

Get started with Wise Business🚀

What's already confirmed for this Budget

A handful of measures are locked in regardless of what's announced on the day:

The government has pledged to hold the main rates of income tax, employee National Insurance and VAT, and to keep corporation tax capped at 25%
VAT on household electricity has dropped to 0%, in place from 1 October 2026 until 31 March 2027
Pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England will get a 20% cut to their business rates bills from April 2027, with full eligibility rules due on Budget day
Stamp duty and council tax will remain in their current form, at least for now

It's worth noting those pledges cover headline rates only. Thresholds, allowances and reliefs sit outside them, and that's traditionally where recent Budgets have raised most of their revenue.

What's being discussed (and what isn't confirmed)

Everything below is speculation reported by political commentators, not confirmed policy:

Capital gains tax: some commentators have suggested a move to align CGT more closely with income tax rates, though HMRC's own modelling reportedly suggests a straightforward rate rise could reduce overall revenue collected, which may explain why this talk appears to have cooled recently.
Inheritance tax reliefs for farms and family businesses: Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief have been mentioned as areas the Prime Minister has said need "looking at again," though no changes have been announced.
Property taxes: reports suggest the threshold for the High Value Council Tax Surcharge, due to start in 2028, could be lowered, though this remains unconfirmed.
Income tax thresholds: currently frozen until April 2031, with some commentary speculating about ending the freeze earlier than planned. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that would reduce tax revenue by around £8.4 billion a year, a gap the government would need to fill through other measures.
Bank taxation: banking executives have told the BBC they expect the sector to face further tax measures at this Budget, with options reportedly including raising the bank surcharge back towards its pre-2023 level or limiting banks' ability to offset historic losses against current profits. No changes have been confirmed.

Changes taking effect from previous Budgets

A few changes are set regardless of the announcements on the 28th, and are worth building into your planning now:

Why markets will watch the Autumn Budget closely

Currency and bond markets typically set price expectations ahead of big fiscal events like the Budget. When the reality differs from what investors priced in, those markets can move sharply.

For businesses that pay or receive money internationally, that kind of swing can affect margins overnight.

The clearest example remains the September 2022 mini-Budget. When then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s package of tax cuts caught markets off guard, sterling fell by around 4% against the dollar on the day, with gilt yields rising sharply as markets reacted. For any business converting currency, or watching borrowing costs, around that period, the mismatch between what was expected and what was announced translated directly into added costs.

This year's Budget lands in a mixed economic and market environment:

UK growth has held up better than expected. GDP grew 0.1% in August against forecasts of a contraction, with annual growth reaching 2.1%, the strongest since 2022.
UK 30-year gilt yields hit 6.036% on 7 October, the highest since 1998, a 28-year high.
UK 10-year gilt yields reached 5.527% on 8 October, the highest since 2007.

Rising gilt yields matter beyond government finances. They typically push up the cost of interest rates and borrowing more broadly, including business loans and overdrafts, and they can influence currency movements as investors reassess the relative attractiveness of UK assets.

And this isn't just a UK story: US, Japanese and German long-term borrowing costs have all climbed to multi-decade highs over the same period, driven largely by a jump in oil prices and heavy global debt issuance competing for capital.

The pound has seen some notable movements during the same period. GBP/USD fell from a summer high of 1.366 in August to as low as 1.318 in early October, a 3.5% drop. Against the euro, we've seen movement in the other direction, from mid-year lows of 1.151 in late June to highs of 1.183 in mid-October, a 2.78% jump.

To put that in perspective: on a 10% net margin, a 3.5% currency swing over a few months means over a third of your profit vanishes, without a single new tax or policy change affecting your business directly.

"You don't need a crisis to feel currency risk. A few percentage points either way over a quarter can be the difference between a healthy margin and a thin one, especially for businesses that aren't actively managing their FX exposure. Markets are currently pricing in around a 1% rise in UK interest rates over the next year, which would affect the cost of credit and borrowing for businesses. On the currency side, the pound has found some strength ahead of the Budget, recently testing 1.3400 against the dollar, its highest level since mid-September, on the back of stronger-than-expected jobs and inflation data, though the ONS has flagged the jobs figures may see revisions. With UK public debt passing £3 trillion for the first time this week, pressure is on the Chancellor to show markets he can keep a tight rein on public finances. If markets view this Budget differently, we might see the sort of gap between expectation and announcement that tends to move both gilt yields and the pound, which is why businesses with international exposure should be watching closely in the run-up to the 28th."

"You don't need a crisis to feel currency risk. A few percentage points either way over a quarter can be the difference between a healthy margin and a thin one, especially for businesses that aren't actively managing their FX exposure.

Markets are currently pricing in around a 1% rise in UK interest rates over the next year, which would affect the cost of credit and borrowing for businesses.

On the currency side, the pound has found some strength ahead of the Budget, recently testing 1.3400 against the dollar, its highest level since mid-September, on the back of stronger-than-expected jobs and inflation data, though the ONS has flagged the jobs figures may see revisions.

With UK public debt passing £3 trillion for the first time this week, pressure is on the Chancellor to show markets he can keep a tight rein on public finances.

If markets view this Budget differently, we might see the sort of gap between expectation and announcement that tends to move both gilt yields and the pound, which is why businesses with international exposure should be watching closely in the run-up to the 28th."

Nathan Solomon, Global FX Lead at Wise

What your business can do now

With two weeks to go, most of the value is in being ready to respond quickly once the detail lands, not in making major decisions based on rumour:

Know your numbers. Check your exposure to the areas already confirmed (electricity costs, business rates if you're in hospitality) and the ones already locked in for 2027 (payroll systems ready for mandatory BIK payrolling, MTD thresholds).
Use today's allowances. If you're a sole trader or director, your pension contributions, ISA subscriptions and capital gains annual exempt amount all apply under current personal tax rules, regardless of what's announced.
Hold off on rumour-driven decisions. If a transaction (business sale, gift, property purchase) is already planned, talk to your adviser about timing now, but avoid restructuring purely to pre-empt a change that may not happen.
Keep an eye on currency exposure. If your business pays suppliers or receives revenue overseas, markets can move quickly around fiscal events, so having a way to act on rate movements is worth having in place before the 28th, not after.

How Wise Business can help

With a Wise Business account, you can hold and convert GBP, EUR, USD and other currencies at the mid-market rate with low, transparent fees.

If markets move around Budget day, having funds in the currencies you need can help you respond quickly, manage cash flow and make more informed decisions about when to convert.

Get started with a Wise Business account for free 🚀

Sources used:

Autumn Budget 2026: What's Confirmed, What's Rumoured and How to Plan | WR Partners
UK 30-year gilt yields hit 28-year high as global selloff deepens | Reuters
UK 10-year borrowing costs rise to 19-year high after oil prices jump | Reuters
Why are world bond markets selling off again? | Reuters
British Pound / U.S. Dollar | TradingView
British Pound / Euro | TradingView
Banks say Healey is planning Budget tax raid on their profits | BBC
UK economy unexpectedly grows in August despite fall in consumer spending | The Guardian
The 17 October 2022 fiscal statement: Summary and background | House of Commons Library

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.