The first Budget from a Labour government in over 14 years reflects the financial strain we have been briefed to expect.

“...And the only way to drive economic growth... is to invest, invest, invest.” So said Rachel Reeves, early on in her first Budget on 30 October. Those who kept listening learned, however, that invest, invest, invest would only follow borrow, borrow, borrow and tax, tax, tax.

There were three major tax highlights.

Employer’s national insurance contributions (NICs)

There were two main increases and one small mitigation. From 2025/26:

• The main rate will rise from 13.8% to 15.0%.
• The secondary earnings threshold, below which no employer’s NICs are levied, will fall from £9,100 to £5,000 and be frozen until April 2028.
• The employment allowance, effectively an annual NIC rebate, will rise from £5,000 to £10,500. However, this remains unavailable for companies with a single director employee or if the employee is providing domestic services (e.g. a nanny).