Guide · reviewed 2026-10-07
The 28 October 2026 Budget: what it could change for people leaving the UK
The Chancellor, John Healey, delivers his first Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026. This guide separates three things that pre-Budget coverage tends to blur: the rules already in law for people leaving the UK, the proposals credible outlets have reported (each labelled with its source and date), and the mechanics that decide when an announcement starts to bite. It is research, not advice, and it will be updated within 48 hours of the speech.
Read with: Leaving the UK: the tax rules that follow you
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01
The date and the process: from the speech to the statute book
The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October 2026. HM Treasury confirmed the date on 31 July 2026, and the Office for Budget Responsibility publishes its economic and fiscal forecast the same day. For someone planning to leave the UK, what matters is not only what is announced but when each measure starts: some tax changes can apply from the moment of the speech, many start with the next tax year on 6 April 2027, and others only on a date set once Parliament passes the Finance Bill months later.
02
What is already law for leavers: the baseline the Budget starts from
Whatever is announced on 28 October lands on top of rules that are already in force, and the largest changes for people leaving the UK have already happened. Since 6 April 2025 domicile no longer decides how foreign income, gains or estates are taxed: residence does. Inheritance tax reaches the worldwide assets of a long-term UK resident and follows them abroad for between three and ten years. Capital gains tax rates rose on Budget day in October 2024. None of this is a proposal; it is the baseline, and the full mechanics are in the Latitax guide to leaving the UK.
03
Reported, proposed, speculated: what is being said about this Budget
Nothing in this section has been announced. The Chancellor has said he will not give “any answers or signals that will fuel Budget speculation”, and no Treasury statement on any of these items was found on GOV.UK. What follows is what credible outlets reported in September and early October 2026 that would matter to someone leaving the UK, each item labelled by how firm it is: REPORTED (an outlet says the government is considering it), PROPOSED (an outside body has put it forward) or SPECULATION (widely discussed, with no sourced account of government consideration). Each item names its outlet and date.
04
Before the Budget: what is fixed and what is not
Three things are fixed before 28 October: the law as it stands today, the dates on which a tax position is measured, and the fact that a Budget measure can apply from the day it is announced. What is not fixed is the content of the speech. The date-dependent points below are the ones people commonly take to a regulated UK tax adviser before a Budget. Latitax does not give advice; speak to a regulated adviser before acting.
05
After the Budget: what Latitax will publish
Latitax will update this guide within 48 hours of the speech on 28 October 2026 with what was actually announced: each measure that touches people leaving the UK, its start date, whether it applied from Budget day, and the primary source for it. Reported items that do not appear will be marked as not announced. Readers can get the update by email through the Latitax mailing list, which asks every new address to confirm before anything is sent.