A new Prime Minister, a Budget in four weeks — what has actually changed for limited companies.

The political facts changed faster this summer than most businesses had reason to notice. Andy Burnham left the Greater Manchester mayoralty in June, entered the Commons as MP for Makerfield, became Labour leader unopposed in mid-July and Prime Minister on 20 July 2026. There was no general election — this was a change of party leader, and the next one is not due until 2029. John Healey replaced Rachel Reeves as Chancellor the same day. Bev Craig has been Mayor of Greater Manchester since August.

For a limited company, almost none of that matters yet. What matters is the date it all points at.

The date that actually matters: Wednesday 28 October 2026

The Chancellor has asked the Office for Budget Responsibility to publish a forecast on 28 October, and the Budget will accompany it. It is Healey’s first, and this government’s first.

That is four weeks away, and it is the honest answer to most questions being asked right now. A striking number of this government’s business announcements come with the words “at the Budget” attached. Until then they are intentions, and intentions are not something to plan a company around.

The fiscal arithmetic is worth holding in mind, because it shapes what can plausibly arrive. Analysts put the gap to be closed at £22bn or more. The government has kept the commitment not to raise the rates of income tax, employee National Insurance or VAT — which between them are close to 60% of all receipts. If money has to be found, it has to come from somewhere other than the three largest levers.

What is actually in force now

Business rates changed on 1 April 2026, and this is inherited policy rather than anything the current government did. The pandemic-era retail, hospitality and leisure relief ended and five permanent multipliers replaced it: 38.2p and 43.0p for retail, hospitality and leisure depending on size, 43.2p and 48.0p for everything else, and 50.8p where the rateable value is £500,000 or more. The 2026 revaluation took effect the same day.

VAT on electricity fell to 0% yesterday, 1 October, running to 31 March 2027. This was Burnham’s first significant act as Prime Minister, announced on 21 July. It is also the measure most often misreported, so to be precise: most companies will see nothing. Ordinary commercial electricity is standard-rated at 20% and remains so. The cut applies only to supplies that already qualified for the 5% reduced rate — domestic use, and genuinely small business supplies below HMRC’s de minimis threshold of 1,000 kWh a month. If you run a small single-unit premises, check your October bill. If you do not, this is not your tax cut.

Employment tribunal time limits doubled from three months to six, also yesterday, under the Employment Rights Act 2025. Quiet, but real: it widens the window in which a former employee can bring a claim.

The approved mileage rate rose to 55p for the first 10,000 business miles from 6 April 2026 — the first change since 2011. The rate above 10,000 miles stays at 25p. If your expense policy still says 45p, it has been wrong since April.

Corporation tax late filing penalties doubled for filing dates on or after 1 April 2026: £200 for a late return, £400 at more than three months, and £1,000 or £2,000 for a third successive failure.

Legislated, but not yet in force

The unfair dismissal qualifying period drops from two years to six months on 1 January 2027. This is not a proposal — it was commenced by statutory instrument made in May 2026, and applies where the termination date falls on or after that day. The compensation cap goes at the same time. The original commitment to day-one rights was dropped; six months is where it landed. If you are carrying an employee you have doubts about, the arithmetic of when to act changes in the new year.

Third-party harassment liability returns on 30 October 2026, with the preventative duty extended to “all reasonable steps” across protected characteristics rather than sexual harassment alone.

And one deadline that has nothing to do with this government but will catch more companies than anything above: every existing director and person with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House by 18 November 2026. In practice the effective date for most companies is their next confirmation statement, which may fall sooner — and that statement cannot be filed until verification is done. The first prosecutions came in September, when three directors were fined at City of London Magistrates’ Court. We have written separately on how that interacts with your filing deadlines.

Announced, but not law

A 20% business rates cut for pubs, social clubs and live music venues in England from April 2027, announced on 23 July, covering around 32,000 venues — roughly £1,100 a year for a typical pub. It stacks on the 15% relief already running for 2026/27. The threshold excluding the largest music venues has not been set, and the funding measures, including tighter VAT on online marketplaces, remain at consultation.

Fiscal devolution to English mayors, announced 31 July: mayors would retain a share of locally raised income tax and business rates in place of central grant. The proportions have not been published. If it arrives as described it is the largest structural change to how businesses are taxed by place in decades — but today it is a direction, not a number.

Still only a speech

Burnham campaigned on raising the small business rate relief threshold from £12,000 to £18,000, with the taper moving from £15,000 to £21,000 — costed by one firm at about £880m a year and floated as funded by higher rates on large warehouse developments. It has been widely reported as though it were settled. It is not. He has said he is “signalling going further on business rates” at the Budget while conceding “limited room for manoeuvre”. Treat it as a reasonable expectation and nothing firmer.

The same applies to reconsidering the employer National Insurance increase: an expressed wish, with no mechanism and no date attached.

The one most owner-managers should actually watch

Beneath the politics sits a consultation that would matter more to a typical owner-managed company than any business rates headline. HMRC consulted between June and 14 September 2026 on modernising the taxation of distributions and repayments of capital — the rules governing how value leaves a company and reaches its shareholders. The proposals include narrowing when a return of capital is taxed at capital rather than income rates, fixing a “frozen” capital amount at the shareholder’s original investment, and tightening the conditions for a purchase of own shares.

It is the most serious look at these rules since corporation tax was introduced in 1965, and it closed six weeks before the Budget. That proximity is unlikely to be accidental. If any of it survives into 28 October, the arithmetic underneath a great deal of owner-managed planning moves — and our comparison of dividends and salary would need rewriting the same week.

What to do before 28 October

Very little, and that is the point. Verify your directors at Companies House if you have not. Correct your mileage policy to 55p. Check whether your electricity supply is small enough to be caught by the VAT change, and assume it is not. If you have an employment matter you have been putting off, understand that the qualifying period halves on 1 January.

Beyond that, the sensible posture for four weeks is to avoid acting on announcements with no legislation behind them. We will write up what actually lands on the day it lands.

This is commentary on published policy rather than political endorsement, and general information rather than advice. Where a measure is described as announced or proposed, it is not law and may never become law.