HLAS

Employers will be relieved that there are no more changes to NIC rates and bandings or therefore consequential payroll software changes! Like the main income tax bandings, NIC thresholds are now also frozen until 5 April 2028. This means that employers’ NIC will continue to apply at 13.8% to earnings in excess of £9,100 a year (£175 per week) and employees and the self-employed will continue to pay 12% and 9% respectively on earnings/profits between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% thereafter. Despite rumours to the contrary, the 1.25 percentage point increase to NIC rates that has just been removed from 6 [...]

The income level at which point the ‘additional’ 45% rate of income tax starts to apply will be reduced from £150,000 to £125,140* from 6 April 2023. The new £125,140 threshold ties in with the £12,570 personal allowance being gradually withdrawn for those with income in excess of £100,000. For these individuals, once their income exceeds £125,140, they will no longer be entitled to a personal allowance and, from April 2023, will move straight into 45% income tax. *It should be noted that, for Scottish taxpayers, income tax rates and thresholds are, for certain income types, separately set by the [...]

It had already been announced that the income tax personal allowance (£12,570) and higher (40%) rate threshold (£50,270*) would be frozen until 5 April 2026, instead of increasing each year in line with inflation. The Chancellor has now announced that these freezes will continue until 5 April 2028. As earnings increase, this will result in more higher rate taxpayers and is often referred to as ‘fiscal drag’ because it will raise more tax without actually increasing income tax rates.

The new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had warned the public and the financial markets that his Autumn Statement would include “eye-watering” cuts in public spending and tax rises for those with the ‘broadest shoulders’. Unlike the ill-fated Fiscal Event of 23 September, the Government “rolled the pitch” this time with several leaks prior to the event. Mr Hunt wants to avoid the austerity that followed the 2008 financial crash and is focused on measures that will keep the period of recession as short as possible. Many pensioners and those on means-tested benefits will be relieved that their 2023/24 payments will be [...]

The Government will continue to support the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), although we still await further detail. In the original 23 September 2022 statement, it was announced that qualifying start-up companies would be allowed to raise £250,000 under the scheme, an increase over the current £150,000 limit. SEIS currently provides unconnected investors with an income tax deduction of 50% of the amount invested, up to £100,000 a year. There is also generous capital gains tax relief for the investor. It is proposed that this annual investor limit would be doubled from 2023/24.

The Government will continue to support business capital investment by keeping the level of the 100% Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) at £1 million. This deduction is available to unincorporated businesses as well as limited companies if they invest in new or second-hand equipment. We are, however, expecting the temporary 130% ‘super-deduction’ for company expenditure on qualifying new equipment to come to an end on 31 March 2023.

The 23 September Fiscal Statement included the unexpected news that the “off-payroll working” (OPW) rules would be scrapped from 6 April 2023. These rules were introduced for public sector employers from 6 April 2017 and then extended to large and medium-sized private-sector organisations from 6 April 2021. It has now been announced that the OPW rules will continue to apply. Affected organisations will continue to be required to determine whether or not a worker providing services via their personal service company (PSC) would be classed as an employee if they were working directly for the organisation. If so, then PAYE [...]

The corporation tax rate increases and the continuance of the higher income tax rates on dividends will impact on the profit extraction strategies adopted by director/shareholders in 2023/24. Again, this may be affected by the Autumn Statement on 17 November 2022 but please do contact us to discuss how the changes affect you.  

Undoing all measures announced since 23 September 2022, the rates of income tax applicable to non-dividend income remain as they are now; namely a 20% basic rate, a 40% higher rate and a 45% additional rate (for those with income over £150,000). For dividends, although the associated 1.25 percentage point supplement on NICs is being removed from 6 November, income tax rates on dividends will not be reduced. They will remain as they are now; namely a 8.75% basic rate, a 33.75% higher rate and a 39.35% additional rate. The first £2,000 of dividend income continues to be tax-free. The [...]

On 23 September 2022, it was announced that the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) nil-rate threshold on residential property would be increased from £125,000 to £250,000. Like the abolition of the 1.25 percentage point increase in NICs, the legislation to enact the SDLT change was already in progress when the U-turns were being made. As such, this threshold increase continues to apply. Unfortunately, the significant increases in mortgage interest rates mean the SDLT change is unlikely to provide the desired stimulus to the housing market. The increase in the nil-rate threshold for first-time buyers, from £300,000 to £425,000, also continues to [...]