The budget is good news overall for young professionals – here’s how the changes will affect you

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first budget was full of a dizzying array of measures to raise over £40 billion to fund public services and boost investment.

The headlines suggest most of the extra taxes to be paid will fall on businesses, not directly on “working people”. If you are recently out of university or early in your career, here are a few measures most likely to affect your life.

Inheritance tax

This 40% tax is paid^[1] by the estates of those who pass away, before the remaining amount is distributed based on their wishes. It is really more of an estate tax, than a tax on what you inherit personally.

Little was changed to the tax itself in this budget – you can still receive £325,000 tax-free from each parent, or from your spouse or civil partner. If the estate includes a family home, they can pass this tax free between them and then to their descendants up to a value of £1 million (both get £500,000 each). Estate values beyond this are taxed at 40%.

The £325,000 threshold hasn’t changed since April 2009, so as house and asset prices rise it means more of an estate’s value over these levels will be subject to tax each year. If this threshold level had kept pace with changes in general prices, the basic inheritance tax threshold should now be more than £500,000^[2].

The chancellor has decided to extend the fixing of this threshold for another two years – now to at least 2030.

Does this matter? Very much so, as budget forecasts suggest that while only 5% of current estates are subject to any tax, by 2029-30 this will double, so many more of us will get taxed on inheritances than ever before. This is because as prices keep rising, more and more inheritances will go over the threshold level and be subject to this tax.

However, this still implies 90% of all estates will be passed on tax-free so most will never end up bearing this tax.

No one’s 20s and 30s look the same. You might be saving for a mortgage or just struggling to pay rent. You could be swiping dating apps, or trying to understand childcare. No matter your current challenges, our Quarter Life series^[3] has articles to share in the group chat, or just to remind you that you’re not alone. Read more from Quarter Life: One change that Reeves did announce was that inherited pension pots will now all be taxable. Currently, if you inherit unused parts of a pension pot and the owner died aged less than 75, it was passed on tax-free. This won’t happen in the future, and it will instead form part of the estate and be subject to the tax rules above. This means estate sizes could be larger and more will therefore end up getting taxed. Reeves also announced the end of the exemption^[4] that allows owners of agricultural land and farms, and owners of businesses to avoid inheritance tax. Instead, from April 2026 a £1 million exemption cap will be applied and any assets passed on above this will be taxed at 20% (half the rate applied to other inheritances). Housing and stamp duty Reeves also announced a rise in stamp duty^[5] (the tax paid when you buy a house or flat over a certain value) for those purchasing second homes. While you and your peers are more likely to be trying to buy a first home, the government argues that this increase will give first-time buyers a competitive advantage in the housing market. However, there is risk that these extra costs could be passed on, for example to renters of a landlord’s second property in the form of higher rent. The government also did not extend the higher thresholds for stamp duty that were announced by the previous Conservative government in the October 2022 mini-budget. So from April next year, first-time buyers will once again have to pay stamp duty on any properties over £300,000, rather than £425,000. National insurance Employer national insurance contributions (NICs) are also set to rise in April 2025 to 15% (from 13.8%). This doesn’t directly affect employees, as their NIC rate will stay at 8%. However, this may mean there will be less money to pay wage increases or hire new staff. The Office for Budget Responsibility expects^[6] about 60% of this extra employer NIC cost on average to fall on wages, and about 15% to be passed on to customers in higher prices – so only 25% will affect business profits. However, this impact will vary. Smaller businesses and businesses in low margin industries such as low-end retailing or grocery stores, may find this harder to pass on to their employees or customers. They will have to absorb more of this cost as reduced profits, which in turn would lead to less money for wage increases or hiring. In effect, it will be cheaper to have more self-employed people (employer NICs are not paid on the self-employed, who have to sort this out themselves).

References

1. ^{^} 40% tax is paid (www.gov.uk)
2. ^{^} more than £500,000 (www.ons.gov.uk)
3. ^{^} Quarter Life series (theconversation.com)
4. ^{^} end of the exemption (www.theguardian.com)
5. ^{^} rise in stamp duty (www.bbc.co.uk)
6. ^{^} expects (obr.uk)
7. ^{^} fizkes/Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com)
8. ^{^} fill vacancies (www.gov.uk)