How to avoid an ‘Omnishambles’ Budget Why raiding pension tax relief is riskier than it looks

The definition of an ‘Omnishambles’ is a situation that is bad in many different ways, because things have been organised badly and serious mistakes have been made.

George Osborne’s 2012 Budget was so infamous that the Oxford English Dictionary named ‘Omnishambles’ its word of the year. It included revenue-raising measures that appeared harmless but sparked a political storm.

This paper highlights the risk that potential changes to pension tax relief in the Autumn Budget 2025 could be seen in a similar light.

There is also speculation about capping or ending salary sacrifice for pensions, following HMRC’s May report.

Each case has hidden ‘traps’ that could create real challenges for the Chancellor, including risks of breaching the manifesto commitment not to raise taxes on workers or disproportionately affecting public sector employees.

We examine these three speculated measures against five key challenges. Our red/amber/green ratings are summarised in the chart, with red signalling major issues.