Chancellor Rachel Reeves has decided to cut employee ownership trust capital gains tax relief from 100% to 50%.
She has justified this because the scheme has been too popular: it is on course to cost £2bn in lost tax revenue, she said, which is 20 times beyond the original costings when the scheme was introduced in 2013.
Âé¶¹Éç companies that have been sold to an employee ownership trust this year alone include Gilbert-Ash, Conlon Group, Cheetham Hill Âé¶¹Éç and Martin-Brooks Roofing.
Reeves said that reduced capital gains tax relief on disposals to employee ownership trusts would save the Treasury £900m a year.
The bulk of savings in the government's autumn 2025 budget come from freezing tax thresholds on personal tax and employer National Insurance contributions thresholds for three years from 2028/29. This will raise £8bn because, as pay level rises, more people start paying 20% tax (at £12,570 annual earnings), and more people will come into the 40% bracket (earning above £50,271 and the 45% bracket (above £125,140) – an effect known as fiscal drag.
 Salary-sacrificed pensions contributions will now be taxed, raising £4.7bn, and there will be a 2-point increase on taxes on dividends, property and savings income, raising £2.1bn.
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