Chancellor John Healey delivers the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 28 October, and the pre-Budget briefing war is already in full swing, with the Treasury’s own allies trying to talk down the scarier rumours. For most people that means mansion tax speculation and fuel duty freezes. For anyone running OnlyFans, Fansly or Fanvue income through a sole trader setup or a limited company, several of the proposals doing the rounds would land directly on self-assessment bills, dividend payments and VAT registration thresholds.
Why it matters to creators
Most working creators are either sole traders filing self-assessment or directors of their own limited company taking a salary-and-dividend split — the exact structure this site has already covered in the context of new ID verification rules. Several ideas being floated for 28 October would change how much tax that income attracts, when it’s due, and how much paperwork is involved. Nothing is law yet. But creators who wait until the Chancellor sits down to think about it will have missed the window to do anything useful before the new tax year.
What’s confirmed, and what’s still a rumour
The date itself is confirmed: Healey announced 28 October back in a video message in early August, saying the Budget would “move money and power out of Westminster.” Everything else below is reported speculation from named outlets and professional advisers, not confirmed policy — treat it as a planning prompt, not a certainty.
Self-employed National Insurance: the gap could close
Accountancy firm BDO is among those predicting the Treasury will look again at closing the gap between the National Insurance employees pay and the lower Class 4 rate self-employed people pay. If you file as a sole trader — which covers a large share of creators, especially earlier in their careers — this is the single change most likely to hit your actual take-home pay, because it would apply to ordinary trading profit, not just dividends.
Dividend tax: limited company creators should pay attention
The dividend allowance already dropped to just £500 for the current 2026/27 tax year, with basic-rate dividend tax now at 10.75% and additional-rate at 39.35%, according to current HMRC rates. Sumit Agarwal of DNS Accountants is quoted predicting further tightening, including the possibility of an extra levy on income over £75,000. If you run your OnlyFans earnings through a limited company and pay yourself mainly in dividends to keep National Insurance down, this is the mechanism the Treasury keeps coming back to, and it’s worth modelling what a further squeeze would do to your net income before you decide how much to draw before the Budget versus after it.
The £1,000 threshold and monthly tax payments
Separately from Budget speculation, HMRC has been consulting on its “Timely Payments in Income Tax Self Assessment” proposals, which would start collecting tax monthly through PAYE for people with both employment and self-assessment income from the 2029-30 tax year, and — more immediately relevant for creators just starting out — is looking at lowering the £1,000 threshold at which payments on account kick in. HMRC says around 1.1 million payments on account were missed in a single January, so this is squarely aimed at people with small, irregular side income — which describes a lot of creators in their first year on a platform, the exact audience already facing new digital reporting deadlines once their income crosses £30,000.
VAT threshold: watch it if you’re near £90,000
BDO is also predicting the VAT registration threshold could rise from £90,000 to £100,000. For creators earning close to the current threshold, that £10,000 of headroom is the difference between staying out of the VAT system for another year or having to register and start charging — and absorbing — VAT on UK sales. One creator told this site how a £40,000 VAT bill landed on her all at once after crossing the threshold; a higher bar would buy some creators more runway before facing the same scramble.
What to do now
- Pull your year-to-date profit and loss together now, so you can model a National Insurance or dividend tax change against real numbers rather than guessing on Budget day.
- If you run a limited company, talk to your accountant before 28 October about whether to bring forward a dividend payment ahead of any rate change, rather than after.
- If you’re within £10,000 of the £90,000 VAT threshold, get an up-to-date revenue forecast so you know which side of a possible new line you’ll land on.
- If you’re newer to the platform and earning under £1,000 a year so far, don’t assume you’re outside HMRC’s radar — the payments-on-account threshold is exactly what’s under review.
- Put 28 October in your diary and plan to read the actual detail, not just the headlines — Budget predictions are wrong as often as they’re right.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice — speak to a qualified accountant about your own situation before making decisions based on Budget speculation.
