The Autumn Budget: what employers should watch for
The Budget was on 28 October 2026. What it changed for employers: Autumn Budget 2026: what changed for employers.
The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October 2026. If you have staff on a UK payroll, most of the speech won't touch you. A few lines will, because they decide what each employee costs you and what your payroll has to do differently. This is what to look for, what's already been announced, and how to read it without reacting to the headlines.
The short version. Find the employer National Insurance rate, the threshold where it starts and the Employment Allowance first. Those three move your cost. Then note the start date of anything that changes, because payroll follows the date a measure takes effect, not the day it's announced.
The lines worth finding first
Here's where each one stands for 2026/27, taken from our 2026/27 rates page. On the day, compare what's announced against this column.
| Line to look for | 2026/27 today | What it changes for you |
|---|---|---|
| Employer (secondary) NI rate | 15% | Your cost on every pound of pay above the threshold, for every employee |
| Secondary Threshold | £5,000 a year | Where employer NI starts. A lower threshold means more of each salary is charged |
| Employment Allowance | Up to £10,500 a year | Comes off the employer NI bill for eligible employers. For a small team it can matter more than the rate |
| Personal Allowance and employee NI | £12,570; employee NI 8% up to £50,270, 2% above | Your employees' take-home pay and tax codes, rather than your own cost |
| National Living Wage | £12.71 an hour at 21 and over, from 1 April 2026 | The floor for hourly pay. Check every hourly rate whenever the next rates are announced |
What a small move costs
A tile importer in Bristol, owned by a family firm in Porto, has two UK employees on £32,000 each. At 2026/27 rates the employer NI on each is £27,000 above the threshold at 15%, so £4,050, or £8,100 for both.
Now some arithmetic, not a forecast. If the rate went up one point, each employee would cost £270 more a year. If the threshold came down by £1,000, it'd be £150 more each. Small numbers, until you multiply them by headcount.
The more interesting line for this business is the allowance. If it qualifies for the Employment Allowance, the whole £8,100 is covered today, so a change to the allowance would hit it harder than a change to the rate. Work out which line actually bites for your own payroll before the day, and you'll know which part of the speech to listen for. Our guide to employer National Insurance walks through the calculation, and what a UK employee costs puts it alongside pension and the other on-costs.
Already announced, so not news on the day
Two employer changes are already set. You may well hear them again on the 28th, but they're not new.
Benefits in kind move into payroll from April 2027
HMRC are phasing in mandatory payrolling of benefits in kind. Phase 1 starts on 6 April 2027 and covers company cars, car fuel, vans, van fuel and employer-provided medical benefits. Phase 2 follows from April 2028 for most other benefits, with loans and accommodation staying voluntary. HMRC said the final phase 1 guidance would be published to line up with Autumn Budget 2026, so that's the detail to look for in the Budget documents. Our benefits in kind guide covers what the P11D does until then.
Pension salary sacrifice gets a £2,000 cap from April 2029
From 6 April 2029, salary sacrificed into a pension above £2,000 a year will be charged employee and employer NI. HMRC's policy paper says the design and operation of the limit will be set out in secondary legislation in due course, so any detail published now is worth reading if you run a scheme. Our salary sacrifice guide explains how it works today.
How to read it on the day
The speech gives the headlines. The detail sits in the documents published alongside it, where each measure says who it affects and when it takes effect. That operative date is the one that matters to payroll, and it's often months away.
So don't change anything in payroll on Budget day. Write down each change that affects you, with its start date, and check it against the published document rather than a news summary. Rates change in payroll software on the date the measure starts. Our employer compliance calendar is a good place to keep those dates next to the ones you already know.
Would you rather someone else applied the changes?
We run UK payroll for overseas employers and growing UK businesses, and apply new rates and thresholds from the date they take effect.
Get startedCommon questions
When is the 2026 Budget?
Wednesday 28 October 2026. The Chancellor confirmed the date in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee published on GOV.UK on 31 July 2026.
Do Budget changes apply to payroll straight away?
Each measure has its own start date, set out in the documents published alongside the speech. The two employer payroll changes already announced both start on a 6 April, one in 2027 and one in 2029. Payroll changes on the date a measure takes effect, not on Budget day.
Which Budget lines change what a UK employee costs?
Mainly the employer National Insurance rate (15% in 2026/27), the Secondary Threshold where employer NI starts (£5,000 a year in 2026/27), and the Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 in 2026/27). Income tax and employee NI changes affect take-home pay rather than the employer's cost.
Read next
- UK payroll and tax rates and thresholds 2026/27
- Employer National Insurance explained
- What a UK employee really costs
- Benefits in kind and the P11D explained
- Salary sacrifice explained
General information for employers, not tax or legal advice. It was written on 23 October 2026, before the Budget, and reflects 2026/27 rates and GOV.UK guidance as published then. Anything announced on 28 October is not reflected here. Please check your own position before acting.