The jargon, explained
Short, neutral definitions of the tax and policy terms our explainers use — fiscal drag, stamp duty, capital gains tax and more. Each links to the proposals where it comes up.
Fiscal drag
Fiscal drag is when tax thresholds are frozen while wages rise, so more people are pulled into paying tax —…
The personal allowance
The personal allowance is the amount you can earn each year before you pay any income tax — £12,570 in 2025…
Section 21 (no-fault evictions)
Section 21 was the rule that let landlords in England evict tenants without giving a reason — a 'no-fault' …
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT)
Stamp Duty Land Tax is a tax you pay when you buy a home or land above a certain price in England and North…
Capital Gains Tax (CGT)
Capital Gains Tax is the tax you pay on the profit when you sell an asset — such as shares or a second home…
The triple lock
The triple lock is the guarantee that the UK state pension rises each year by whichever is highest: inflati…
National Insurance (NI)
National Insurance is a tax on earnings and self-employed profits that helps fund the state pension and som…
Net zero
Net zero is the UK's legally-binding target to cut its greenhouse-gas emissions to effectively nothing — ba…
IR35
IR35 is a set of tax rules that decide whether a contractor working through their own limited company is re…
The two-child benefit limit
The two-child benefit limit was the rule that capped the child element of Universal Credit at the first two…
Inheritance tax (IHT)
The 40% tax on estates above the tax-free thresholds — who really pays it, the 7-year gift rule, and the pension change coming in 2027…
The Winter Fuel Payment
The £200–£300 pensioner heating payment — the 2024 means-testing row, the U-turn, and who gets it now…
The minimum wage
£12.21 an hour for over-21s in 2026/27, rising to £12.71 — the rates, who sets them, and why minimum-wage workers now pay tax…
Universal Credit
The UK's main working-age benefit — the standard allowance, the 55% taper, and what the 2025 Act changes…
Tax codes (1257L)
How to read yours, emergency codes, and reclaiming overpaid tax…
Salary sacrifice
The legal escape hatch from NI — pensions, EVs and the catches…
Dividend tax
The £500 allowance, the rates, and the owner-director equation…
Non-dom status
What it was, what replaced it in 2025, and the Britannia Card…
Pension Credit
The gateway benefit a third of eligible pensioners never claim…
Fiscal rules & headroom
The self-imposed borrowing limits that drive every Budget…
Lifetime ISA
The 25% bonus, the £450k trap and the withdrawal penalty…
The benefit cap
The frozen ceiling on household benefits — and who it bites…
The state pension age
Currently 66, rising to 67 between 2026 and 2028 — who's affected, why it keeps rising, and the 68 question…
Land value tax (LVT)
Taxing the land, not the house on it — what it means, and how it differs from the 0.48% property tax the PM has backed…
eVED (pay-per-mile EV tax)
The 3p-a-mile electric car tax from April 2028 — how odometer billing works and what a typical driver pays…