29/11/2025
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A great post below written by our finance expert has broken down the key budget changes that may affect independent funeral directors
If you have any burning questions youโd like answered, please email editorial@fsj.co.uk.
Meet Drew๐๐ฝ
Yesterdayโs Budget โ what does it actually mean for independent funeral directors?
The Chancellor didnโt mention funerals once, but there are a few things in the budget that will land directly on independent funeral firms.
Iโm Drew, Director of Oak Circle Accounting and a columnist for the Funeral Service Journal (Funeral Service Journal - FSJ), and hereโs the short version without the political noise:
Wages are going up again:
The National Living Wage and other minimum wage rates are rising. That means higher costs for:
- bearers and drivers
- junior admin / ops staff
- casual or part-time support
If youโve been holding prices down 'to be kind' to families, this squeezes your margins further. At some point, prices per funeral have to reflect true costs or the numbers stop working.
Vehicles, fuel and EVs:
The 5p cut to fuel duty is being extended โ small help for diesel fleets.
Per-mile road tax is coming for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Extra money is going into EV charging and road maintenance.
If youโre thinking about electric hearses or vans, donโt assume theyโll stay cheap to run from a tax point of view. You need to look at the full cost over several years, not just this yearโs incentives.
Business rates:
The Budget promises permanently lower rates for many smaller high-street/retail-type properties, funded by higher rates on big, high-value sites.
Most independent funeral homes sit in the 'smaller premises' camp โ so your next business rates bill is worth a careful look, not just filing it away.
Ownersโ tax and succession:
Income Tax and National Insurance thresholds are frozen for longer (a so-called "stealth-tax" rise).
Tax on property, savings and dividend income is going up.
From 2029 thereโll be a cap on how much pay you can salary-sacrifice into a pension with extra NI advantages.
If most of your familyโs wealth is tied up in the business and/or the building, this makes succession and exit planning more important, not less.
If you run a small, family-run funeral firm and want help turning this Budget into concrete numbers (wage bill, pricing, drawings, succession) send us a message - Iโm happy to walk through it with you.
Drew.
Or if you have any burning questions youโd like answered, please email editorial@fsj.co.uk.
