The diary for 2025 includes an end to stamp duty relief, council tax hikes, a rise in the bus fare cap, and many other significant events.
Here, Which? has compiled the key dates to mark in your calendar to help you plan your finances.
1 January: New energy price cap comes into effect
Energy regulator Ofgem has confirmed that energy bills for those on price-capped tariffs will rise by around 1.2% on 1 January.
The current price cap sees homes using a typical, medium amount of gas and electricity pay around £1,717 a year if they are on a variable tariff. That figure will rise to £1,738 in January.
That equates to an increase of £21 a year for a home using a typical amount of energy compared with the current price cap. Daily standing charges are staying the same.
Find out more:1 January: Bus fare cap rises from £2 to £3
Announced as part of the Autumn Budget, a cap on single bus journeys in England will rise from £2 to £3.
The measure was introduced under the previous Conservative government to help with the cost of living.
The cap covers most bus journeys in England and will run until the end of 2025.
Find out more:31 January: Online tax return deadline
Those who file self-assessment tax returns online must file their 2023-24 return and pay the tax they owe by midnight on Wednesday 31 January.
If you're self-employed, you will usually also be asked to make the first of two payments on account (payments towards your next bill), with the second due by 31 July 2025.
Find out more:6 February: 2025's first base rate decision
The base rate influences how much it costs to borrow and how much you get paid to save. It is set by the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee.
Find out more:March: Free Wills Month
Running every year in March and October, Free Wills Month allows people over the age of 55 to get a simple will written or updated for free. Many charities and hundreds of solicitors across the UK take part.
Find out more:2 March: Train fares to rise
Train fares in England are set to rise by 4.6% in 2025, while the price of most railcards will rise by £5.
Annual increases to regulated rail fares (season tickets and most commuter fares) are set by the government. They take effect in March and are normally linked to the previous July's Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation.
However, the 4.6% increase to regulated rail fares in 2025 is one percentage point above July's RPI.
The Campaign for Better Transport said that increasing rail fares above inflation was ‘a further kick in the teeth’ for commuters while increasing the cost of railcards was ‘a harmful step in the wrong direction’.
Find out more:31 March: Temporary stamp duty relief comes to an end
The temporary additional stamp duty relief for first-time buyers and home movers, which was introduced in September 2022, will end as planned on 31 March 2025.
From 1 April, home movers will pay stamp duty on purchases over £125,000 rather than the current £250,000.
The stamp duty threshold for first-time buyers will be £300,000, rather than the current £425,000 threshold.
Find out more:1 April: Minimum wage rise comes into effect
The National Living Wage (for those over the age of 21) will rise from £11.44 to £12.21 an hour. The minimum wage for those aged 18-20 will rise from £8.60 to £10, and for apprentices, it will rise from £6.40 to £7.55.
1 April: Council tax rises and other bill hikes
Most councils in England can raise council tax rates by 5% without calling a referendum. Given that the average Band D council tax bill in England is currently £2,171, this could mean a rise of £109.
Other bills are also expected to rise on this date, including:
5 April: Isa deadline
Use your Isa allowance or lose it before the tax year ends on 5 April.
Adults are entitled to a £20,000 tax-free allowance every year across all types of Isa (including cash, stocks and shares, and innovative finance Isas). Children under 18 with a Junior Isa get a £9,000 allowance. Isa allowances can't be rolled over.
5 April is also the deadline for using your pension allowance, as well as other tax allowances such as capital gains and dividend tax allowances.
Find out more:5 April: Tax credits end
All tax credit claimants should have been moved over to universal credit by this date.
Find out more:6 April: New tax year
The 6 April marks the start of a new tax year, for 2025-26.
If you have all the information you need and are feeling enthusiastic, today is the first day you can file a 2024-25 tax return.
Find out more6 April: Employer National Insurance contributions rise
As part of the Autumn Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that National Insurance (NI) contributions for employers will increase from 13.8% to 15% from 6 April 2025.
The threshold for when employers need to start paying the tax will also be lowered, from £9,100 to £5,000.
6 April: Help to Save scheme expanded to all universal credit claimants
The government-run Help to Save scheme is designed to help lower-income households build up a savings pot.
Help to Save accounts are similar to instant access savings accounts, but instead of earning interest customers are given a 50% cash bonus at the end of two and four years, worth up to £1,200.
Access to the scheme is currently limited. From 6 April 2025 the scheme will be widened to anyone who works, earns at least £1 in that month, and qualifies for universal credit.
6 April: State pension and benefits boost
Benefits will rise in line with September 2024's inflation figure of 1.7%, while the state pension will rise according to the triple lock.
The triple lock ensures the state pension rises in line with whichever is the highest of inflation, earnings growth, or 2.5%.
The government has confirmed that in 2025 the state pension will rise in line with wage growth (4.1%), which translates to a £472 increase for pensioners.
Find out more:30 June: Mortgage guarantee scheme closes
1 July: New energy price cap
The energy price cap for the third quarter of the year will come into effect.
31 July: Payment on account deadline
The second ‘payment on account’ for the self-employed is due on this date.
'Payments on account' are payments towards your next tax bill, which help spread the cost of your bill by making payments in two instalments. By default, each payment on account is half of the tax you owed last year. If you do not expect to pay as much tax over the coming tax year as you did previously, you can apply to reduce your payment on account.
Find out more:August: Student fee rise takes effect in England
In England, the maximum fees will rise from £9,250 to £9,535 – after being frozen since 2017.
Find out more:September: Free childcare rollout is completed
From September, the government-funded childcare scheme guarantees that working parents of children under the age of five will be entitled to 30 hours of free childcare a week.
Find out more:1 October: New energy price cap
The energy price cap for the final quarter of the year will come into effect.
5 October: Deadline to register for self-assessment
You must tell HMRC by 5 October if you need to complete a self-assessment tax return and have not sent one before. You can tell HMRC by registering for self-assessment.
22 October: Inflation figures announced
Inflation figures for September will be announced in October. While inflation figures are published every month, September's inflation figure is important as it is used to calculate how much benefits and the state pension will rise by the following April.
31 October: Deadline to file paper self-assessment tax return
If you choose to send a paper self-assessment tax return by post rather than filing it online, you must do so by 31 October.
October/November: Autumn Budget
Budgets are generally set once every year and are announced in the House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The Budget usually takes place in the Autumn, and sets out the state of the economy as well as any proposed tax changes.
In 2024, the Autumn Budget was on 30 October.
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