Corporation tax rates

Corporation tax rates remain unchanged at 25% main rate and 19% small profits rate from 1 April 2026.

Capital allowances

The main rate writing down allowance will decrease by four percentage points to 14% from April 2026. However, there will be a new 40% first-year allowance for main rate assets. Cars, second-hand assets and assets for leasing abroad will not qualify. The 100% annual investment allowance will remain.

Tax advantaged investment incentives

The company eligibility limits for the enterprise management incentives scheme (EMI) are being increased from April 2026 to enable companies scaling up, as well as start-ups, to offer tax-advantaged shares. The employee limit will be 500, the gross assets limit will be £120 million. The maximum holding period will be 15 years. The EMI notification requirement will be removed from April 2027.

Companies will be able to update their existing EMI and company share option plan (CSOP) contracts to enable employees to exercise their options at a private intermittent securities and capital exchange system (PISCES) trading event and retain the tax advantages.

Business rates

New permanently lower business rates multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure (RHL) properties are being set at 5p below their national equivalents. This will make the small business RHL multiplier 38.2p and the standard RHL multiplier 43p. To fund these reductions, the multiplier for properties with rateable values of £500,000 and above will be 2.8p above the national standard multiplier, making it 50.8p in 2026/27.

Where businesses’ rates bills increase, there will be a three-year transitional relief scheme for the largest businesses including airports and hospitality, and a supporting small business scheme to help the smallest businesses. The supporting small business scheme will also be expanded to businesses that are losing their RHL relief.

A 1p transitional relief supplement will be introduced for ratepayers who do not receive transitional relief or the supporting small business scheme. This will apply for one year from 1 April 2026.

FLandfill tax

From April 2026 the standard rate will be £130.75 a tonne and the lower rate will be £8.65 a tonne. The gap between the two rates of landfill tax will be frozen.

Gambling duties

Remote gaming duty will increase from 21% to 40% from April 2026. A new remote betting rate at 25% within general betting duty will be introduced from April 2027. Duty on remote horse racing bets will remain at 15%. Bingo duty will be abolished from April 2026.

Carried interest

A revised tax regime for carried interest that sits wholly within the income tax framework, will be introduced from 6 April 2026.