Autumn Budget 2024

The principal measures affecting Taxeezy clients, taxwise...

Individuals and Landlords...

• Income tax rates and National Insurance (NI) paid by employees, and of VAT, to remain unchanged.
• Income tax band thresholds to rise in line with inflation after 2028.
• Basic rate capital gains tax on profits from selling shares to increase from 10% to 18%, with the higher rate rising from 20% to 24%
• Rates on profits from selling additional property unchanged.
• Stamp duty surcharge, paid on second home purchases in England and Northern Ireland, to go up from 3% to 5%.
• The point at which house buyers start paying stamp duty on a main home to drop from £250,000 to £125,000 in April.
• The threshold at which first-time buyers pay stamp duty will drop back, from £425,000 to £300,000.
• The threshold freeze for inheritance tax is extended by a further two years to 2030, with unspent pension pots also subject to the tax from 2027.
• Allowances / exemptions when inheriting farmland to be reduced from 2026.

Specific to the Self-Employed / Small Businesses who employ people...

• Employers to pay NI at 15% on wages / salaries above £5,000 per annum from April.  This changes from 13.8% on salaries above £9,100.
• Employment allowance - which allows eligible employers to reduce their annual National Insurance liability increases from £5,000 to £10,500
• The minimum wage for over-21s to rise from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour from April
• The rate for 18 to 20-year-olds to go up from £8.60 to £10.00.

Measures affecting the Self-Employed incurring transport expenses...

• The 5p cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel due to end in April 2025, is retained for another year.
• The £2 cap on single bus fares in England, outside London and Greater Manchester, rises to £3 from January.
• Air Passenger Duty to go up in 2026, by £2 for short-haul economy flights and £12 for long-haul ones, with rates for private jets to go up by 50%!
• Vehicle Excise Duty paid for new non-electric cars to double in their first year, for all but the most efficient petrol vehicles.