If you were up a ladder on 28 October, you missed the Budget. Fair enough. Most of the coverage was about shops, pubs and household energy bills anyway.
So here is what actually matters if you run a trade business. No jargon. Five minutes.
What did not change
Income tax, National Insurance and VAT headline rates all stayed the same.
The VAT registration threshold stays at £90,000.
Employer National Insurance stays at 15%, and the Employment Allowance stays at £10,500.
Corporation Tax stays at 19% and 25% if you run a limited company.
Income tax thresholds are still frozen until April 2031. As your prices go up, more of what you earn gets taxed at a higher rate. That one quietly costs you every year.
What did change
Fuel. The 5p cut to fuel duty has been extended until 1 July 2027, and the rise planned for January is off. Red diesel stays at its lower rate until July too.
Mileage. The 55p a mile rate for the first 10,000 business miles in a car or van is now permanent. Above 10,000 miles it goes up from 25p to 35p a mile from 6 April 2027.
Wages. The National Living Wage goes up 3.9% to £13.21 an hour from 1 April 2027. Apprentices go to £8.31.
Making Tax Digital. From 6 April 2027, sole traders with more than £30,000 of qualifying income have to send quarterly updates to HMRC. That drops to £20,000 a year later.
Kit. New equipment bought from 1 January 2027 gets a bigger first year allowance (50%, up from 40%). But the £1 million Annual Investment Allowance already covers most small firms, so do not buy kit you do not need just for tax.
Company vans. If you run a limited company and give staff a van, that benefit has to go through payroll from 6 April 2027.
Nobody mentions this
The big business rates news was more relief for small shops, pubs and leisure venues. Around 70,000 of them will stop paying rates altogether from April 2027.
Brilliant for them. But if you run an electrical or plumbing firm from a unit or your back office, that relief probably is not for you. It is aimed at retail, hospitality and leisure.
So for most trades, this Budget did not hand you much. Costs are still going up. Wages go up in April. And the Federation of Small Businesses says nearly half of small firms expect their revenue to shrink in the coming months.
The bit you can actually control
You cannot change the Budget. You can change how many jobs you win.
When money is tight, customers shop around more. They search Google, ring two or three names, and book whoever picks up and looks the most trusted. If your phone is not ringing enough, it is not always the economy. Often it is one of these:
You are on page 2 of Google, so you never get the call in the first place.
You miss the call because you are on a job, and they ring the next name.
You have fewer reviews than the firm down the road, so they look the safer bet.
Fix those three and the Budget matters a lot less.
Where No Hassle For Trades comes in
We set up a system that catches every enquiry and keeps the work coming in. Missed call text back, an AI Receptionist that books jobs into your calendar, quotes and invoices with payment links, and automatic review requests after every job.
It is a monthly subscription, so it keeps working for you every month, not just the week after we set it up. You can see the plans on our services page.
Get in touch and book your first month free to test it. Ring 07830 364377 or email info@nohasslefortrades.com.
This post is general information based on the Budget documents published on 28 October 2026. Measures described as announced can still change before they become law. Speak to your accountant about your own numbers.
