Chancellor Phillip Hammond delivered the Autumn budget on October 29th. We have highlighted the key points that were made in his 72 minute speech focusing on financial and business topics that will effect you and your business.
Tax
The personal allowance threshold (the rate at which people start paying income tax at 20%) to rise from £11,850 to £12,500 in April 2019. The higher rate income tax threshold (the point at which people start paying tax at 40%) to rise from £46,350 to £50,000 in April 2019.
Business
- £900m in business rates relief for small businesses
- Business rates for firms with a rateable value of £51,000 or less to be cut by a third
- £650m to rejuvinate High Streets
- Planning laws will be relaxed to turn empty shops into offices and homes
- Small business VAT thresholds will NOT be changed for 2 years
- Employment allowance will only be allowed for businesses with an employer national insurance bill under £100,000 a year from April 2019
- Apprenticeship levy contribution reduced for smaller firms from 10% to 5%
- Annual investment allowance increased from £200,000 to £1million for 2 years
- Introducing a permanent tax relief for new, non-residential structures and buildings
Welfare and Pensions
- Work allowances for universal credit to be increased by £1.7billion giving 2.4 million families an extra £630 a year
- An extra £1billion to help people transition when they are moved onto univesral credit
- Benefits remain frozen for 4 years, cutting almost £4 billion a year from the benefits bill
Wages
Minimum wage hourly rates are increasing from April 2019, with the biggest increase of 4.9% for National Living Wage. Here are the details of all the increases:
National Living Wage (minimum wage for over-25s) to rise from £7.83 to £8.21
Minimum wage aged 21-24 to rise from £7.38 to £7.70
Minimum wage aged 18-20 to rise from £5.90 to £6.15
Minimum wage aged 16-17 to rise from £4.20 to £4.35
Apprentice wages to rise from £3.70 to £3.90
Vehicles, fuel and transport
- Fuel duty is frozen for ninth year in a row
- Vehicle tax will be entirely spent on roads for the first time, allowing major highways to access a £28.8billion fund from 2020 to 2025
- A fund worth £420million will be handed to councils for filling potholes
- The Transforming Cities Fund which funds bus routes, trams and cycle lanes will be extended with £680million in 2022/23
- Gridlocked junctions will get £150million improvements over 2 years from 2021
- Self-driving shuttles and electric bikes get £90million for trials over 3 years starting from 2019
