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October 30, 2026

Budget 2026: A Quiet One (and Why You Shouldn’t Take Betting Tips From Olly)

The moral of the story is that if you’re looking for betting tips, don’t rely on my advice.

This Budget was a lot quieter than I expected. I predicted capital gains tax rises (wrong) and a rise in the income tax personal allowance (wrong). I also predicted the Government wouldn’t touch the triple lock. It wasn’t mentioned in the Budget, but it did come up at Labour Party Conference, so I’ll give myself half a mark.

Now that we’ve established I have no future career in tipping, let’s look at the announcements that affect founders, investors and advisers.

Founders

On the surface, the announcements look great: CGT rates held, extra funding for the National Wealth Fund and the British Business Bank to invest in private capital, and a shake-up of the EMI scheme.

The new Founders’ Relief has drawn the most criticism. At a high level, it looks like a great deal: a 10% CGT rate on up to £10m of lifetime gains, with the aim of encouraging founders to reinvest their proceeds in British businesses. The fine print, however, comes with a long list of restrictions:

  • £10m+ turnover in the year before you sell

  • 15 full-time employees

  • A minimum level of R&D spend

  • A 25% stake from day one

  • UK residency for five years either side of the sale

Ultimately, there isn’t a huge amount on offer for established founders this Autumn. There was some help for younger founders, with the announcement of the Young Entrepreneurs Allowance whereby the government will cover a year of living costs for ‘young’ founders. As to what the definition of ‘young’ is, that remains to be seen but for my own sake I hope it’s at least for under-35s (at 29 I still consider myself young). 

Overall, I don’t think the Budget has done much to sway those on the “why should I found a company in Britain?” bandwagon, but that’s a conversation for another day.

Investors and advisers

Again, this Budget is more noticeable for what wasn’t said. There were no major changes for retail investors, just a bit of tweaking.

On EIS and VCTs, the welcome news is that there are no further changes to the reliefs for tax-efficient vehicles. The Government has also removed the rule under which breaching an EIS limit wipes out all relief, and companies will be able to raise from SEIS, EIS and VCTs on the same day. It is also keeping a beady eye on EIS money spent outside the UK.

Outside the tax-efficient space, the headline news is the reversal of the planned cut to the cash ISA limit from £20k to £12k, and the introduction of a First Time Buyer ISA to replace the Lifetime ISA from April 2029.

The personal allowance remains frozen (did someone say stealth tax?), and there was no change to the pension and IHT changes coming in next April.

Want to hear more?

If you’d like analysis from two people who have worked in this industry far longer than I have, we held a webinar with Marcus Love (MD and Co-Founder, Love Ventures) and Tom Wilde (Partner and Head of Tax & Incentives, Shoosmiths). You can watch the recording here.