Summary

  • Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to increase a range of taxes when she delivers her Budget at 12:30 GMT

  • Before the 2024 election, Labour promised not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT for "working people"

  • Headline rates aren't expected to change - but a freeze on income tax thresholds could be extended until 2030, meaning more people pay higher rates as their pay increases

  • Other changes could include higher taxes on houses worth more than £2m, as well as on electric vehicles and pension contributions

  • Reeves could also scrap the two-child benefit cap, meaning larger families can claim more means-tested benefits

  • On Tuesday, increases to the minimum wage were confirmed - as well as changes to the sugar tax, meaning milkshakes will be affected from 2028

Live Reporting

  1. Reeves will hope Budget buys her time as political pressures mount

    Chris Mason
    Political editor

    At every Budget there is the faintly absurd recipe of a dollop of briefing, several tablespoons of speculation and a sprinkling of leaks.

    But this year has been something else: a Budget in the last gasps of autumn has meant all of the above have been served up, with ever increasing frequency, since the kids were still on their summer holidays.

    On top of all that, the chancellor herself has chosen to join the pre Budget public conversation more often than has ever happened before.

    There is an underlying reason for all of this: Rachel Reeves, the prime minister and the rest of the government have long known this is a landmark moment for them.

    Opinion polls suggest this still relatively new government is deeply, deeply unpopular - the prime minister and chancellor even more so.

    The economy continues to stutter, the cost of living continues to bite for millions, and ministers from the prime minister down acknowledge that the promise of "change" they were elected on isn't coming remotely fast enough for many people.

    You can read more from Chris Mason on the political backdrop to today's announcement here.

  2. What's the Budget (in 100 words)?

    Chancellor Rachel Reeves holds up the red Budget Box outside No. 11 Downing Street.JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

    Each year, the chancellor - the minister in charge of the government's finances - delivers a Budget statement to Parliament.

    They outline the government's plans on tax, borrowing and spending on public services like healthcare, schooling and policing.

    The Treasury also publishes a report to accompany the Budget, detailing the measures and how much they will cost.

    The independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - which monitors government spending - also assess the plans.

    In short, this is the moment the government explains how it's going to pay to keep everything running - and that means putting up taxes, moving money around, or borrowing more.

  3. It's Budget day

    Emily Atkinson
    Live editor

    After weeks of speculation, briefings, counter-briefings and about-turns, we've arrived at Budget day.

    This is Rachel Reeves's second Budget. Her first - announced in October last year - delivered £40bn-worth of tax rises, the biggest increase since 1993.

    This year's is coming to us later than normal and the delay has only fuelled conjecture about what might be announced.

    While we won't know for sure until that much-awaited moment when she stands up in the Commons, one thing is all but certain: taxes are going up. But which ones?

    It had been thought that Reeves would use this Budget to raise income tax rates (and, in so doing, break a promise Labour made in its election manifesto). It appears she's now backed away from that idea.

    Instead, talk has turned to extending a freeze on income tax thresholds, alongside a range of more limited tax-raising measures.

    We'll walk you through all of this in detail over the coming hours, before all becomes clear at 12:30 GMT.

    Stay with us for updates, analysis and reaction throughout the day.