Autumn Budget 2025: what it means for haulage companies

The Autumn Budget is where the government sets out its annual financial plan — from tax rates to investment priorities and new digital requirements. While much of it applies broadly to UK businesses, haulage companies will feel the impact more sharply because of high operating costs, complex compliance, and the reliance on subcontracted drivers.

The Autumn Budget 2025 introduces a mix of rising costs, new digital reporting rules and updated tax allowances that will influence how haulage firms plan fleets, manage subcontractors and run their operations in the years ahead.

Here’s a clear breakdown of what will matter most for the haulage sector.

Fuel duty and operating costs

Fuel is one of the biggest cost pressures in road haulage, and the 2025 Budget sets out a staged increase over the next two years.

Fuel duty reversal (2026–27)

The government will reverse the temporary 5p fuel duty cut in three steps:

Alongside this:

• Vehicle Excise Duty for HGVs will rise with inflation from April 2026.
• The HGV levy will also rise in line with inflation.

What this means for haulage companies: across a fleet operating thousands of miles per day, even small increases will have a compounding effect on operating costs.

Fleet investment: trucks, trailers and yard equipment

Haulage companies typically plan fleet replacement years ahead. The 2025 Budget provides several tax allowances that will ease the cost of investment — especially helpful for replacing older units or expanding capacity.

Key allowances

Why this matters for haulage:
High-value assets — tractors, trailers, refrigeration units, telematics, yard handling equipment — can be timed to optimise tax relief during the 2026–27 window.

Income tax, NI and business taxation

Many haulage businesses operate as limited companies, and the Autumn Budget 2025 includes several changes that will affect both directors and payroll.

Key updates

• Personal tax thresholds will remain frozen until 2031 — increasing effective tax for rising wages.
• NI thresholds will remain frozen, impacting overall labour cost across drivers, planners and admin staff.
• Dividend tax rates will increase from 2026–27, affecting directors who draw income via dividends.
• Corporation Tax will remain unchanged, but allowances will play a bigger role in tax efficiency.

Impact:
Labour will become more expensive, and margins will tighten unless businesses offset this through efficiencies.

Digital compliance, invoicing and subcontractor management

This is one of the most significant areas for haulage companies — not only because of their own reporting obligations, but because many rely heavily on subcontracted drivers.

The 2025 Budget confirms a shift towards stricter digital record keeping:

Key deadlines

• April 2027: penalties for late VAT and Self Assessment filings will become tougher.
• 2027: Making Tax Digital will expand, requiring more accurate digital records across the business.
• 2029: Mandatory e-invoicing will apply to all VAT-registered businesses.

For haulage companies working with subcontractors, this will matter because:

• Clean digital audit trails will become essential for VAT, accounting and haulage insurance reviews.
• Subcontractor invoices will need to be accurate, VAT-compliant and digitally consistent.
• Payment errors — especially across large subcontractor pools — will become more expensive under the new penalty regime.

How SmartPay will help haulage companies manage these changes

SmartPay will reduce admin for both in-house fleets and subcontracted drivers, supporting the tighter compliance landscape set out in the Autumn Budget.

1. Cleaner VAT and invoice checks

SmartPay will automatically validate key VAT details, helping reduce the risk of errors and mismatched subcontractor invoices — a major pain point for haulage operations handling high volumes of third-party work.

2. Standardised digital invoices (future-proofed for 2029)

With e-invoicing becoming mandatory in 2029, SmartPay already issues consistent, structured digital invoices. This will help haulage firms maintain clean audit trails across subcontractors.

3. One-click, consolidated payments

Instead of paying subcontractors one by one, SmartPay will allow a single bulk payment covering all approved invoices — ideal for haulage businesses with complex weekly payment runs.

4. Automatic reconciliation

Each invoice will be matched automatically to its payment, reducing manual admin, preventing duplicate payments and improving accounting accuracy ahead of stricter Making Tax Digital requirements.

5. Supporting MTD for Self Assessment

SmartPay and HX will continue working with accounting software providers to support the rollout of MTD for Self Assessment, making it easier for subcontractors to stay compliant — and for haulage businesses to receive clean, standardised digital invoices from them.

The result:
Less back-office pressure, fewer payment mistakes, faster subcontractor turnaround and a more compliant end-to-end workflow.

HGVs and the road to decarbonisation

While the heavy truck market is still early in its transition to zero-emission vehicles, the Budget includes several long-term measures:

• Additional investment in charging infrastructure will be made.
• EV-only forecourts and charging sites will receive 10 years of business rates relief.
• The new EV mileage tax will apply to cars only — not HGVs.

Impact:
Little will change immediately for heavy haulage, but companies with depots will benefit from infrastructure and charging incentives when planning ahead.

Depots, yards and multi-site operations

Haulage companies often manage multiple depots, yards, workshops and warehouses.

Changes in the 2025 Budget include:

• Small Business Rates Relief will be extended for companies operating more than one property.
• Long-term rates relief will apply to EV charging infrastructure installed on commercial premises.
• Site expansions and yard upgrades may become more cost-effective.

Cross-border and freight-specific changes

For operators running European or import/export work:

• Customs duty relief on low-value imports (under £135) will be removed by 2029.
• HMRC will expand real-time data matching, increasing scrutiny over mixed domestic/international freight income.
• Future tax conditionality may link compliance more closely to transport licensing.

Key takeaways for haulage companies

Here’s a summary of what’s changing with the 2025 Budget:

• Fuel and fleet operating costs will rise from 2026–27.
• Tax allowances will offer opportunities for fleet and yard investment.
• Digital compliance will tighten, especially for subcontractor-heavy operations.
• E-invoicing will become mandatory in 2029, requiring consistent digital invoices.
• SmartPay will help reduce admin, prevent payment errors and support haulage companies as the industry shifts towards fully digital workflows.

Frequently asked questions