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Sky News Money - expert advice wanted

ended 26. November 2025

Sky News want your answers to the 10 reader Qs below. ASAP. Choose 1-3 and send your responses across ASAP. Put the number of the Q before your response so it's clear which question(s) you have answered.

Q1: Was there any help for me as a carer in today’s Budget?

Q2: Why don't farmers use the covenant process (seven years) to hand on their farm without capital gains tax?

Q3: I have a salary sacrifice car and also in the 2015 CARE police pension. I am concerned about the salary sacrifice changes rumoured. My salary sacrifice is roughly £10,000 per year and I am locked in for another 2 years. What will this change mean for me?

Q4: The frozen tax threshold plus triple lock rise I think means I'll be over the personal allowance next year. I have a very small income from a private pension. I've never filed a tax return in my life and wouldn't know where to start. What will I need to do?

Q5: I earn £87000 per year now and I am putting £18000 into my pension as previously I was unable to afford to contribute to a pension I am now 53 how will today's budget affect me?

Q6: I have £20,000 in a cash ISA with Skipton. Will I now be charged interest on £8,000? I am a low rate tax payer?

Q7: Has the government made any changes to the price of gas and electricity that we all use and help the working families save money as we need to use both to heat our homes can you please let me know what the government has decided thank you?

Q8: New council tax bands based off what valuation? Will they attempt to revalue properties or use the existing historical valuations. There are not enough valuation agents in Britain to cope with the disputed valuations that will ensue, how do they hope to cover the disputes?

Q9: What does the budget mean for a disabled unemployed person on PIP?

Q10: What does the budget mean for a disabled employed person living with or without PIP benefits?

Q11: I own a freehold public house which is rented outed to a tenant. What will the landlord tax mean to me to in really terms?

8 responses from the Newspage community

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Philly PonniahVerified
Chartered Wealth Manager and Financial Coach at Philly Financial
Q6: "You won’t be charged tax or interest on any of the money that’s already in your ISA. Your full £20,000 stays tax-free. That doesn’t change. The rule is about how much you can put in each year from now on. It’s not about taking money away from what you already saved. The new rule starts in April 2027. From that point, people under 65 will only be able to put up to £12,000 a year into a cash ISA. It does not change the money you already have inside your ISA. It doesn’t shrink it or make any part of it taxable. It just means that in future years you can’t add as much. And because you’re a low-rate taxpayer, your existing ISA money stays fully protected (as it would for any tax rate payer), and your personal savings allowance applies to anything outside the ISA.
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Luke JamesVerified
Tax Director at Gravitate Accounting
Q4. "Where your income is only the State Pension and a private pension, you don't meet the criteria for Self Assessment in 99% of cases. Your private pension will normally have an adjusted tax code to ensure the correct tax is deducted at source. If this isn't accurate, HMRC should issue a simple assessment, avoiding the need for a full return.

Q5. The impact here will depend on how you contribute to your pension. If you use salary sacrifice, usually the most beneficial method, contributions above £2,000 a year are expected to become subject to Employee and Employer National Insurance. Fortunately, these changes start in April 2029, and won't limit how much you can pay in, but will affect the tax cost.

Q6. The cash ISA limit has reduced to £8,000 per annum for under 65s, so any future contributions to Cash ISAs may be capped subject to your age. Any historic contributions made should not be impacted, therefore the interest you receive on your current ISA balance should be unchanged.
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Colin LowVerified
Managing Director at Kingsfleet
Q2: "For a gift to be valid for Inheritance Tax purposes, the donor (the one making the gift) must not receive any further benefit from what they have given. Otherwise the gift is ineffective as it is known as a ‘gift with reservation of benefit’. Many older farmers still live on their farms or work on them so if they gave them away they would have to have no ownership claim or benefit for the rest of their lives for the gift to be effective. Many are in their 80s or 90s as they had based their planning on what has been in place for decades so this change feels like it’s retrospective."
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Riz MalikVerified
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
Q6: "The limits apply to new contributions from April 2027 onwards, so your current cash ISA holdings should not be impacted. After that, the amount you contribute to your cash ISA will depend on your age."

Q8: "Properties will be valued by the Valuation Office, who give the government valuations in relation to taxation and benefits."
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Scott GallacherVerified
Director at Rowley Turton
Q1: From April 2027, landlords will face a 2 percentage point increase in tax on rental income. For a freehold pub rented out at around £35,000 a year, that means an extra £700 a year in tax. Basic-rate taxpayers will see their rate rise from 20% to 22%, and higher-rate taxpayers from 40% to 42%. It’s a straightforward tax hike on landlords and yet another example of rising costs squeezing those who provide essential property — commercial or residential.
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Ross LaceyVerified
Director & Independent Financial Adviser at Fairview Financial Management
Q5 - Depending on how you're making the contributions, there could well be a negative impact on your take home pay if you want to carry on putting the same amount into your pension.

Q6 - The lower allowance only applies to future contributions from the 2026/2027 tax year onward.
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Antonia MedlicottVerified
Founder & MD at Investing Insiders
Q4: It's likely that the private pension company will pay the tax directly and therefore no tax return is required. The problem will be the State pension when that goes over the personal allowance. The DWP doesn't have the ability to deduct taxes and therefore once the new increases have gone through it will mean people having to complete a tax return. We would expect considerable support to be made available to help people having to file a return for the first time.

Q6. The government won't apply the £12k limit retrospectively - it will only be on new contributions after 2027. For contributions from April 2027 onwards, people under the age of 65 who currently max out their Cash ISA will need to find a new home for that additional £8k. Basic rate taxpayers do get a Personal Savings Allowance however, which allows them to earn up to £1k in interest through an ordinary savings account without needing to pay tax. So that's an option if you like keeping your savings in cash.
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Anita WrightVerified
Chartered Financial Planner at Ribble Wealth Management
Q9. PIP and most working-age disability benefits will rise by 3.8% from April 2026, linked to recent inflation, increasing the weekly amount you receive. the Budget explicitly says it is not proceeding with the Spring Statement 2025 reforms to PIP eligibility, which would have restricted access and reduced spending. In simple terms: PIP itself is being protected and uprated rather than cut in this Budget, but the wider disability benefits system remains under reform and scrutiny, and there will be more emphasis on moving some claimants into work.
Q5. If part of your £18,000 is contributed via salary sacrifice, only the first £2,000 of sacrificed pay per year will escape employer and employee NICs. Pension tax relief itself is unchanged; it is the NI advantage that is capped. For example, if you sacrificed £18,000 of salary into pension, NI would still be saved on £2,000 but normal NICs would apply to the remaining £16,000, increasing the combined NI cost for you