The Treasury has confirmed that Rachel Reeves will announce her Budget in the House of Commons on Wednesday 26 November.

The Labour Government’s second Budget is expected to include a raft of further policy tweaks to follow last year’s £40bn worth of tax changes, in an effort to reduce debt and boost economic growth.

Last October, the first Budget under a Labour Government for 14 years saw the Chancellor extend the freeze on inheritance tax (IHT) thresholds, increase capital gains tax (CGT) rates, and announce a significant jump for employers’ national insurance contributions.

The Chancellor is again considering several tax measures, rumoured to include reforming property taxes, further CGT rises, and an extension to the income tax threshold freeze, while possible reforms to the way that ISAs work may also be back on the agenda.

Reeves has previously indicated she wants to encourage a retail investment culture in the UK, although held off from making changes to ISAs during her Spring Statement in March.

The Chancellor also opted to shelve any plans for ISA reforms in July at her Mansion’s House Speech, amid talk the Treasury had been considering reducing the tax-free ISA allowance from its current level of £20,000.

Commenting on the possibility of ISA reforms, AJ Bell director of public policy, Tom Selby, said that the November Budget would likely prove to be the platform where the Chancellor “puts some meat on the bones of this agenda”.

Selby commented: “The Government has been clear it wants to encourage a retail investment culture in the UK and get more people investing for the long term rather than stashing their hard-earned savings in cash, but there has been little detail beyond this, short of swirling rumours that the cash ISA allowance was under threat in the lead-up to Reeves’ second Mansion House speech – before those plans were shelved, at least temporarily.”

He added: “Combining cash ISAs and stocks and shares ISAs into a single main ISA product would be the obvious starting point. The current structure, which requires people to choose between a cash product or an investing product, is illogical and behavioural research commissioned by AJ Bell supports our contention this risks acting as a barrier to people moving into long-term investing.”

---