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Please find below the link for our summary of the Autumn Budget delivered by the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, on Wednesday 30 October.
In presenting Labour’s widely anticipated first Budget in 14 years, the Chancellor was faced with a challenging task. Following her announcement of a “black hole” in the public finances, the need to renew the Treasury’s coffers while maintaining Labour’s manifesto promises seemed a tall order.
In the event Ms Reeves outlined a programme of around £41 billion worth of tax increases over the next five years, alongside plans to rebuild tottering infrastructure, the health service, schools and more. Any idea of a return to austerity was quashed, but how this will be achieved is very much in the detail.
Among the key headline items were:
- The main rate of class 1 employer national insurance contribution (NIC) will be increased from 13.8% to 15 from 6 April 2025%
- The secondary threshold at which employer NICs are payable will be reduced from £9,100 to £5,000.
- Main rates of capital gains tax increases with immediate effect to 18% for non and basic rate taxpayers and 24% for higher and additional rate taxpayers.
- Inheritance tax (IHT) business and agricultural reliefs will be capped at a total of £1 million from April 2026.
- Unused pension funds and death benefits will be included as part of an individual’s estate for IHT purposes from April 2027.
- The additional SDLT charge for second homes and buy-to-let properties (in England and Northern Ireland) increases from £5 to 5% from 31 October 2024
- VAT of 20% will be applied to private school and boarding fees from 1 January 2025, while the charitable relief for English business rates will be withdrawn from 1 April 2025.
- ISAs, Junior ISAs and Lifetime ISA limits will remain frozen until April 2030.
- Fuel duty rates for 2025/26 will remain frozen and alcohol rates on certain draught beers will be cut.
The budget briefing can be downloaded here
Our latest client newsletter is available for download.
It covers items such as:
· Delays to RTI reporting changes
· Abolition of the special tax rules for Furnished Holiday Lettings
· Making Tax Digital for Tax update for Sole traders and Landlords
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Our latest client newsletter is available for download.
It covers items such as:
· Cash basis by default for preparing sole trader and partnership accounts for tax purposes
· Basis Period Reform: Additional Profits
· Major R&D Scheme Overhaul
· Child benefit updates
· New Vat compliance tests for CIS
Download below
Our latest client newsletter is available for download.
It covers the impact on Student Loan repayments in relation to Basis Period Reform, HMRC guidance for Crypto Investors, mandatory Payrolling of Benefits from April 2026 and more.
Download here
In what was widely expected to be Mr Hunt’s final Budget ahead of an election, speculation in the final run up focused on the trade-offs that might be required around cutting taxes and meeting both fiscal rules and spending commitments. Ultimately the Chancellor had it both ways, with some headline grabbing measures aimed at easing the tax burden on earners and families, while also introducing some tax increases to cover their costs.
In a speech punctuated by several interventions from the Deputy Speaker for order, there were some key headline items:
- The main class 1 national insurance contribution (NIC) rate will drop from 10% to 8% from 6 April 2024, the second cut in six months.
- The main rate of class 4 self-employed NICs will similarly reduce from 8% to 6%.
- The high income child benefit charge (HICBC) will be reformed. The threshold increases to £60,000 from April 2024, while the rate at which the charge is levied will be halved, so that child benefit will not be fully withdrawn until an individual’s income reaches £80,000.
- For residential property disposals, the higher rate of capital gains tax (CGT) will be cut from 28% to 24% from 6 April 2024.
- A new UK individual savings account (ISA) will create an additional £5,000 allowance on top of the current £20,000 ISA limit.
- The furnished holiday letting tax regime will be abolished from 6 April 2025.
- From 1 April 2024, the VAT registration and de-registration levels will be increased to £90,000 and £88,000 respectively.
- The non-domicile rules will be replaced with a new regime based on residence from April 2025
- Alcohol and fuel duties are frozen.
The budget briefing can be downloaded here
The 2024/2025 tax tables can be downloaded here
The Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Shona Robison, faced some
difficult decisions in drawing up her first Budget. The Scottish Budget arrived against a backdrop of mixed UK economic news in the previous week.
Full details can be downloaded here
