Tax

UK Capital Gains Tax after the Autumn Budget: the rates held, two reliefs didn't

Photo by Aaron Lefler · Unsplash

The Autumn Budget 2025 was widely expected to raise Capital Gains Tax again. It didn't — but it didn't leave CGT alone either. Here is exactly what changed on 26 November 2025, what stayed the same for the rest of 2025/26, and what a real disposal costs under each.

Written by David Williams Reviewed by Michael Johnson 9 December 2025 5 min read

The short version

The Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025 left Capital Gains Tax rates for 2025/26 unchanged: 18% for basic-rate taxpayers, 24% for higher and additional-rate taxpayers.
The £3,000 annual exempt amount was also left alone, frozen for a second year running.
The one real CGT change in the Budget: relief on qualifying sales to an Employee Ownership Trust was cut from 100% to 50%, for any disposal made from 26 November 2025 onward.
Business Asset Disposal Relief stays at 14% for the rest of 2025/26, still on track to rise to 18% from 6 April 2026 — a change confirmed well before this Budget, not created by it.
A higher-rate taxpayer selling an asset for a £12,000 gain still owes £2,160 in CGT after the allowance — exactly what they would have owed before the Budget.

The Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025 left the headline Capital Gains Tax rates exactly where they were: 18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 24% for higher and additional-rate taxpayers, on gains above a £3,000 tax-free allowance. Ahead of the Budget, another rise in CGT was one of the most widely predicted measures in the newspapers — it did not happen. What did happen was narrower and easy to miss if you were only watching the headline rate: relief on selling a business into an Employee Ownership Trust was cut in half, with effect from Budget day itself. Anyone relying on last year's figures for an ordinary sale of shares or property can carry on using them; anyone selling a business to its employees cannot.

What stayed the same: the 18% and 24% rates

For the whole of the 2025/26 tax year, running 6 April 2025 to 5 April 2026, individuals pay Capital Gains Tax at 18% on gains that fall within their remaining basic rate Income Tax band, and 24% on gains above it. This single pair of rates covers residential property that is not a main home and shares, funds and most other assets alike — the two were unified in October 2024, and the Autumn Budget 2025 made no move to separate them again or to raise either figure. Trustees and personal representatives continue to pay 24% on most gains, and carried interest remains a separate case at 32% for individuals. The confirmed rates for the full tax year are set out in HMRC's Capital Gains Tax rates and allowances guidance, which was not revised by the Budget.

The £3,000 allowance, frozen again

The annual exempt amount — the gain an individual can make in a tax year before any CGT is due — stays at £3,000 for 2025/26, the same figure as 2024/25 and a long way down from the £12,300 it stood at as recently as 2022/23. Trusts generally get £1,500. Nothing in the Budget touched this figure, and nothing in the government's published plans suggests it will move again before the rates themselves are next reviewed. Like the rate freeze, this is a case where the interesting story is the absence of a change rather than the presence of one — a frozen allowance during a period of rising asset prices is a real-terms tightening even without a single number being altered.

What an ordinary gain costs, unchanged

Take an investor who sells shares outside an ISA in 2025/26 and makes a gain of £12,000 after costs, on top of a salary that already places them in the higher-rate band for the year:

Step	Amount
Gain on sale	£12,000
Less annual exempt amount	-£3,000
Taxable gain	£9,000
CGT at 24%	£2,160

A basic-rate taxpayer with the same £12,000 gain and enough unused basic rate band to absorb all of it would instead pay 18% on the £9,000 taxable gain — £1,620. Both figures are identical to what they would have been the day before the Budget. The stock profit calculator works out the gain itself once fees are taken into account, which is the number to apply these rates to.

What actually changed: relief on sales to an Employee Ownership Trust

Before 26 November 2025, an owner who sold a controlling stake in their business to the trustees of a qualifying Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) could claim 100% relief from CGT on the whole gain — a deliberate incentive, introduced in 2014, to encourage employee ownership as an exit route. The Budget cut that relief to 50% for any qualifying disposal made on or after Budget day. Half the gain is now treated as the seller's chargeable gain at the point of sale; the other half is not taxed immediately, but is held over to come into charge later, when the trust itself eventually disposes of the shares. A seller using EOT relief cannot also claim Business Asset Disposal Relief or Investors' Relief on the same disposal. The change, and the reasoning behind it, is set out in HMRC's Capital Gains Tax: Employee Ownership Trusts policy paper, published alongside the Budget.

In real numbers: an owner selling a business into an EOT for a £2,000,000 gain on 1 December 2025, already a higher-rate taxpayer, now has £1,000,000 treated as an immediately chargeable gain. At 24% that is £240,000 of CGT due now, where the same disposal completed on 25 November 2025 would have owed nothing at all. The other £1,000,000 is not forgiven — it is deferred onto the trust's own future disposal of the shares, not eliminated.

Business Asset Disposal Relief: the April 2026 rise is still coming

Business Asset Disposal Relief (formerly Entrepreneurs' Relief) cuts the CGT rate to 14% on qualifying business disposals for the rest of the 2025/26 tax year, up to a £1,000,000 lifetime limit. That rate is scheduled to rise to 18% for disposals from 6 April 2026 — but that increase was legislated in the October 2024 Budget, not this one. The Autumn Budget 2025 confirmed the timetable rather than changing it, which means anyone weighing up the timing of a qualifying business sale is working from the same deadline as before: complete before 6 April 2026 for the lower rate, or accept 18% from that date on. Full conditions are on GOV.UK's Business Asset Disposal Relief page.

The reporting clock didn't change either

None of the Budget's measures touched how or when CGT has to be reported. Anyone who sells UK residential property with a gain to report still has 60 days from completion to report it and pay, through a separate Capital Gains Tax on UK property account rather than waiting for the normal Self Assessment cycle — missing that window still triggers an immediate £100 penalty, rising to the higher of £300 or 5% of the tax due after six months. Gains on shares, EOT disposals and most other assets are still reported through a normal Self Assessment return, due by the following 31 January. Full details remain on GOV.UK's report and pay Capital Gains Tax page.

Sources

This is general information, not tax advice. Capital Gains Tax depends on your full circumstances, including other income, reliefs and the structure of any business disposal. For a decision about your own situation, check HMRC's guidance or speak to a regulated tax adviser or accountant.

Common questions

Did the Autumn Budget 2025 raise Capital Gains Tax?

No. The 18% and 24% rates for individuals, and the £3,000 annual exempt amount, were left unchanged for the whole of the 2025/26 tax year. The Budget did cut relief on sales to an Employee Ownership Trust from 100% to 50%.

What is the Capital Gains Tax rate for 2025/26?

18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 24% for higher and additional-rate taxpayers, on gains above the £3,000 annual exempt amount. These rates apply to residential property and to shares and most other assets alike, and were not changed by the Autumn Budget.

What changed for Employee Ownership Trusts?

From 26 November 2025, only 50% of the gain on a qualifying sale to an EOT is relieved from CGT, down from 100% before that date. The other 50% is treated as the seller's immediately chargeable gain, taxed at the normal 18%/24% rates.

Is Business Asset Disposal Relief still 14% in 2025/26?

Yes, for the rest of the 2025/26 tax year. It is scheduled to rise to 18% for disposals from 6 April 2026 — a change confirmed in the October 2024 Budget and left untouched by the Autumn Budget 2025.

Can I still get 100% relief selling my business to an EOT?

Only if the disposal completed before 26 November 2025. Qualifying disposals from that date onward get 50% relief, with the other half of the gain held over to be taxed later, when the trust itself disposes of the shares.

How quickly do I have to pay Capital Gains Tax after selling a property?

Within 60 days of completion, through a separate Capital Gains Tax on UK property account, not the normal Self Assessment deadline. This was not changed by the Autumn Budget 2025. Gains on shares and other assets are instead reported through Self Assessment by the following 31 January.

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