We’ve been answering your questions on what the budget means for your money.
Wednesday 26 November 2025 21:02, UK
Throughout the afternoon we’ve been answering your questions on what the budget means for you – catch up below.
Thanks to all those who submitted a question – and sorry if we didn’t get to yours.
We’ll be back with live updates tomorrow at 6.30am.
Starting from April 2028, drivers of battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids will be subject to a 3p per mile tax.
The Office for Budget Responsibility projects this will raise £1.4bn in the first year.
As more people in the UK have increasingly switched away from petrol and diesel cars, the government has seen a decline in receipts on fuel duty.
The introduction of this per-mile charge intends to recover some of that revenue – albeit at half the standard fuel duty rate.
As of June 2025, data from the Department for Transport shows that 1.5 million fully electric vehicles and 776,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles were licensed to drive on UK roads.
In total, this means around 2.3 million drivers will probably be affected.
The OBR warns that this policy will likely deter some people from buying EVs, projecting hundreds of thousands fewer electric car sales over the next few years.
Ahead of the budget, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said: “Singling out electric cars for a new pay per mile tax would suppress demand, discouraging consumers and making ever-tougher sales targets even more costly and challenging to achieve.”
However, several other measures announced by the chancellor, such as an expansion of the electric car grant and greater investment in EV charging stations, may keep EVs as an attractive option for many people.
“All vehicles contribute to congestion and wear and tear on the roads, but drivers of petrol and diesel vehicles pay fuel duty at the pump to contribute their fair share, whereas drivers of electric vehicles do not currently pay an equivalent,” the government’s Budget 2025 policy paper reads.
“The government is firmly committed to supporting the transition to EVs by making electric cars accessible for everyone.”
Scott Gallacher, director at Rowley Turton, answers for the Money blog…
From April 2027, landlords will face a two-percentage point increase in tax on rental income. 
For a freehold pub rented out at around £35,000 a year, that means an extra £700 a year in tax. 
Basic-rate taxpayers will see their rate rise from 20% to 22%, and higher-rate taxpayers from 40% to 42%. 
It’s a straightforward tax hike on landlords and yet another example of rising costs squeezing those who provide essential property – commercial or residential. 
Anita Wright, chartered financial planner at Ribble Wealth Management, answers this for the Money blog…
PIP and most working-age disability benefits will rise by 3.8% from April 2026, linked to recent inflation, increasing the weekly amount you receive. 
The budget explicitly says it is not proceeding with the spring statement 2025 reforms to PIP eligibility, which would have restricted access and reduced spending. 
In simple terms: PIP itself is being protected and uprated rather than cut in this budget, but the wider disability benefits system remains under reform and scrutiny, and there will be more emphasis on moving some claimants into work. 
Ian Rand, chief executive of Monument Bank, answers this one for the Money blog...
Private landlords provide a valuable service to the economy, and to those unable to afford a home. 
However, the chancellor has signalled that revenue-raising from property will remain a priority. There is a risk that excessive pressure on private landlords will push homes out of the rental market and place further strain on tenants.
So, for private landlords operating outside a company structure, today’s measures will feel like a continuation of an already challenging environment. 
The combination of the surcharges, frozen stamp duty thresholds and changes to how property income is taxed all add pressure to the day-to-day economics of running a rental portfolio, alongside the widely known impact of the marginal tax rate from being just over the higher rate threshold. 
Measures such as updating stamp duty thresholds to reflect house-price inflation, or easing the surcharge for responsible landlords, would help restore balance. 
For now, the main implication of today’s budget for a higher-rate landlord is continued fiscal pressure in an already stretched sector.
Here’s what Anita Wright, a chartered financial planner at Ribble Wealth Management, has to say on this question…
Pension tax relief itself is unchanged by today’s budget; it is the national insurance (NI) advantage that will be capped in future. 
If part of your £18,000 is contributed via salary sacrifice, only the first £2,000 of sacrificed pay per year will escape employer and employee national insurance contributions (NICs). Normal NICs would apply to the remaining £16,000, increasing the combined NI cost for you.
Luke James, tax director at Gravitate Accounting, adds…
Fortunately, these changes start in April 2029, and won’t limit how much you can pay into a pension, but will affect the tax cost. 
Ian Rand, chief executive of Monument Bank, answers this one for the Money blog...
An ISA allowance is personal to the individual, and only they can subscribe to it. 
There is nothing in the rules that prevents you from gifting money to someone else so they can fund their ISA, provided it is a genuine, unconditional gift with no strings attached. 
But the subscription itself must be made in their name, and the assets within the ISA must belong entirely to them.
For many couples – including partners who still share a household – this is a common way to make use of both allowances and support long-term financial security. 
The key is clarity: it cannot be structured as a loan, and you should not retain control over the funds once they are gifted. 
So, the funds legally belong to your partner, and withdrawals or future investment decisions are theirs to make.
ISAs remain one of the simplest and most transparent ways to protect long-term savings from tax.
Malli Kini, partner at Blick Rothenberg, answers this one for the Money blog…
The income tax thresholds have been frozen through to the end of the 2031 tax year.  
That means that the amount of income on which you pay income tax at the basic rate and higher rate (and additional rate should your income increase) will remain the same, discounting the impact of any reliefs.
From April 2026, the rate of income tax chargeable on dividends taxed at the basic rate and the higher rate will be increasing by 2% – from 8.75% to 10.75%, and from 33.75% to 35.75% respectively. Given the level of income quoted, this will impact you.
To optimise how you receive value from your business, you may wish to make employer pension contributions instead of receiving extra dividends. 
These contributions should remain outside the scope of the pension tax reforms being introduced in April 2029. 
This could save you money on income tax and potentially corporation tax.
You may need to review the overall structure of how you realise value from the business, alongside looking at the availability of options that provide income tax relief, such as charitable donations or investments such as the enterprise investment scheme (EIS), seed enterprise investment scheme (SEIS) or venture capital trusts (VCTs).
Colin Low, managing director at Kingsfleet, explains this for the Money blog…
For a gift to be valid for inheritance tax purposes, the donor (the one making the gift) must not receive any further benefit from what they have given. 
Otherwise, the gift is ineffective, as it is known as a “gift with reservation of benefit”. 
Many older farmers still live on their farms or work on them. So if they gave them away, they would have to have no ownership claim or benefit for the rest of their lives for the gift to be effective. 
Many are in their 80s or 90s as they had based their planning on what has been in place for decades, so this change feels like it’s retrospective.  
For the next two hours, we’ll continue to answer your questions on what the budget means for you – there’s still time to submit yours above.
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