Key takeaways

• UK employment tax: ICAEW has urged the UK government to avoid any further increases to employment tax in its submission ahead of the Autumn budget on 28 October 2026.
• Certainty over business regulation: ICAEW called for more regulatory certainty, in response to UK members’ views.
• Business rates multiplier freeze: ICAEW has asked for UK business rates to be frozen in 2027/28 to ease the tax burden on businesses.

Rule out further increases in employment taxes during this Parliament. With previous increases in employment costs, including the increase in employers’ national insurance, holding back hiring and investment, ICAEW is asking for greater certainty to create jobs.

Freeze the business rates multiplier for one year in 2027/28. Doing this would provide immediate relief from rising costs. This would be the first step towards wider, structural business rates reform, which ICAEW believes is necessary to avoid the inadvertent penalisation of growth.

Clarify the definition of “current budget balance” in the fiscal stability rule ahead of the budget. Greater clarity of fiscal stability rules would help to avoid market surprises and support confidence that the Chancellor is stabilising the fiscal position.

Fix tax administration by prioritising investment within HMRC. Poor HMRC performance has caused costs, delays and uncertainty that hold back businesses looking to invest and grow. Fixing HMRC performance will improve both certainty for business and improve the collection of tax revenues.

Expand the Growth Guarantee Scheme to help SMEs invest. Better access to grants and finance would help businesses grow, especially as SMEs are facing high borrowing costs.