What does the 2026 UK Budget mean for family offices?

When we looked at what a Burnham government might mean for UK family offices back in July, we noted that detailed fiscal plans were unlikely before the Autumn Budget. That time has come: Chancellor John Healey announced the Budget this week, and it turned out to be relatively restrained. Inheritance tax was largely untouched, the main rate of capital gains tax (CGT) stayed where it is, and most of the detail is still to be legislated. For family offices, therefore, the key takeaway is to monitor and prepare, at least for the time being.

What works in family offices’ favour

The good news for family offices is mostly that expected changes didn’t actually emerge. There were no big new taxes on wealth, plans to lower the “mansion tax” threshold were dropped, and advisers have generally welcomed this year’s budget as a chance for families to plan with more certainty.

There were also some helpful changes for internationally mobile families. A new tax credit will address the double taxation that hits UK residents holding US LLCs and similar structures, with claims possible from early 2028. The Government has also promised an easement to the CGT exit charge for certain trusts affected by a trustee’s move, and the 2026 Budget hints at reassessing the Foreign Income and Gains regime. For now though, all of these initiatives are short on details, and will rely on legislation yet to follow. 

Where might costs rise for family offices? 

Not everything was good news. Several measures in this week’s budget will add to the tax bill for families with property, savings or business interests, and some start sooner than others:

• Tax on savings and rental income goes up by a further 2 percentage points from April 2027, taking the top rate to 49%. 
• The lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief halves from £1 million to £500,000 for disposals from 6 April 2027. 
• A new Founders’ Relief offers a 10% rate on up to £10 million of gains, but the conditions for eligibility are fairly narrow. 
• New inheritance tax rules on trust debts also apply from 28 October
• Pensions will still enter the inheritance tax net in April 2027.

When will we know more about the Budget’s impact?

Most of the changes we’ve discussed above depend on the upcoming Finance Bill 2026–27, or on ongoing consultations. The Founders’ Relief consultation runs until 30 November. A package of reforms to company distributions, which would bring distributions from non-UK companies more fully into income tax, won’t be consulted on until 2027 and wouldn’t apply before April 2028. Families with offshore holding structures should follow progress closely.

HMRC’s compliance push: one to watch

On the same day as the Budget announcement, HMRC published a strategy to modernise its approach to managing tax compliance among wealthy taxpayers (defined as those with income over £200,000 or assets over £2 million). 

It plans to add 400 specialists by 2030 to tackle offshore non-compliance, specifically mentioning “wealth management, family offices, offshore structures, and trusts” as an area of focus. It also intends to link personal tax data with information on trusts, companies, partnerships and overseas assets.

HMRC says complexity or a particular structure doesn’t, by itself, suggest non-compliance. Even so, family offices may find their arrangements looked at, as a whole, by sector experts. That makes it worth reviewing whether your tax, compliance and structuring expertise is robust enough, and whether your records evidence the commercial reasons behind each arrangement. 

How Victus can help

If your office is looking to strengthen its in-house compliance, tax or structuring capability, or you’re considering a senior hire to prepare for greater scrutiny, Victus Search can help. We have long-term relationships with family offices across the UK and Crown Dependencies, and access to experienced professionals who aren’t actively looking on the open market, as a recent search for a senior compliance hire showed. 

Contact us to talk through your requirements in confidence. You may also find our Family Office Remuneration Guide useful when it comes to structuring the package.