The government has announced a package of regulatory and tariff changes which it estimates could save British businesses almost £800 million a year, ahead of the Budget on 28 October.
In an announcement published on 23 October 2026, HM Treasury said the proposals would reduce paperwork, simplify reporting requirements and extend import tariff suspensions. The £800 million figure is an estimate of potential annual savings for businesses, not a government grant or an immediate tax cut.
Where the proposed savings would come from
According to the Treasury, measures include streamlining company reporting requirements, with estimated savings of up to £290 million annually; removing duplicated reporting for asset managers, estimated at £105 million; and simplifying administration in the home-buying and selling process, potentially saving businesses in the transaction chain £116 million.
The government is also extending import tariff suspensions covering more than 250 products, which it says could save businesses up to £155 million a year. The listed figures are examples within the wider package and should not be treated as a complete breakdown of the headline total.
Changes for smaller businesses
Ministers say they will standardise some requirements for smaller firms bidding for public contracts, streamline business surveys conducted by the Office for National Statistics and improve access to guidance through GOV.UK.
The government has also said it will pause the planned April 2028 requirement for the smallest companies to file profit and loss accounts with Companies House. That is a pause to a future filing change, not the removal of all existing accounting or filing obligations.
The announcement forms part of a wider ambition to reduce the administrative costs of regulation on businesses by 25% by the end of the Parliament.
Reaction and what happens next
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the changes were intended to allow businesses to spend less time on paperwork and more time serving customers and expanding. Chancellor John Healey described the package as an effort to reduce unnecessary administrative costs.
Federation of Small Businesses national chair Tina McKenzie welcomed the pause to the profit-and-loss filing requirement, while the Confederation of British Industry said businesses would want to see the promised reductions delivered in practice.
Some measures still require further implementation, and the Treasury's projected savings are not guaranteed to materialise in full or immediately. The announcement comes ahead of the Chancellor's Budget, scheduled for 28 October 2026.