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On 6 March 2024, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt presented his Spring Budget to Parliament. In the knowledge that the government must hold a general election before 28 January 2025, this was a Budget designed to restore confidence and win voters. But on the heels of Britain entering a recession and downgraded Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts, the Chancellor had his work cut out.

Headlines included further cuts in National Insurance Contributions for workers and the self-employed, a slight increase in the VAT registration threshold and an increase in thresholds to reduce the number of people affected by the high-income child benefit charge. There has also been a cut in capital gains tax for higher earners disposing of residential property. However, income tax rates and thresholds remained static and inheritance tax continues to apply to the largest estates.

Below, we talk more about the Budget and what it means for you.

INCOME TAX

Please note that ‘tax years’ run to 5 April each year and that, for example, 2024/25 signifies the year to 5 April 2025.

Your personal allowance
Your tax-free personal allowance will remain at £12,570 in 2024/25. The personal allowance is partially withdrawn if your income is over £100,000 and then fully withdrawn if your income is over £125,140.

Income tax rates and allowances
For 2024/25, income tax rates and thresholds remain frozen at their 2023/24 levels.
After your tax-free ‘personal allowance’ has been deducted, your remaining income is taxed in bands in 2024/25 as follows.

‘Other income’ means income other than from savings or dividends. This includes salaries, bonuses, profits made by a sole trader or partner in a business, rental income, pension income and anything else that is not exempt.

So what? Without inflationary increases to the income tax bands, the Chancellor is effectively imposing an income tax increase; as wages and earnings rise and a larger proportion falls into higher tax bands. This is known as ‘fiscal drag’.
   
Scottish taxpayers
If your main residence is in Scotland or you are otherwise classed as a ‘Scottish taxpayer’, the application of income tax rates and bands applies differently where ‘other income’ is concerned. After the ‘personal allowance’ has been deducted, your ‘other income’ is taxed in bands as follows:

The Scottish Budget was held on 19 December 2023 and made changes including the introduction of the new ‘advanced rate’ of income tax for 2024/25.

Tax on savings income
A savings allowance determines how much savings income you can receive at 0% taxation, instead of the usual tax rates for savings income as shown above.

This continues to be set at £1,000 for basic rate taxpayers and £500 for higher rate taxpayers.

Further, interest income from an Individual Savings Account (ISA) continues to be exempt from tax.

Tax on dividend income
A dividend allowance determines how much dividend income you can receive at 0% taxation, instead of the usual tax rates for dividend income as shown above.

As expected, this allowance will drop to £500 in 2024/25, down from the £1,000 2023/24 allowance.

However, dividend income from a ‘stocks and shares’ ISA continues to be exempt from tax.

Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs)
The limit on how much you can save into ISAs (including cash and stocks and shares ISAs) in 2024/25 remains at £20,000 overall.

The Chancellor did announce that the government will introduce a new ‘UK ISA’ with an additional allowance of £5,000 a year but this is subject to consultation, and we do not yet have a start date.

The high-income child benefit charge
In an effort to reduce unfairness, the thresholds for the high-income child benefit charge (HICBC) will be increased from 2024/25.

You may have to pay the HICBC if you are considered to have ‘high income’ and child benefit is being paid in relation to a child that lives with you, regardless of whether you are a parent of that child.  If you are living with another person in a marriage, civil-partnership or long-term relationship, you will only be liable to HICBC if you are the higher earner of the two of you.

From 2024/25, the HICBC will be calculated at 1% of the child benefit received for every £200 of income above the threshold. This is a slower rate of claw back than in 2023/24 and now means that child benefit is only fully clawed back where income exceeds £80,000, rather than £60,000 in 2023/24.

The HICBC does not apply if the child benefit claimant opts out from receiving the payments.

The Chancellor also announced plans to administer the HICBC on the basis of total household income, rather than the income of the highest earner in the household, by April 2026.

So what?
Disregarding for this purpose the other changes announced in the Budget, if we take a couple claiming child benefit in respect of two children and the higher earner earns £70,000, the household will be £1,106 better off than if the threshold had not been increased. If the higher earner instead earns £60,000, the household will be £2,212 better off in 2024/25 and the higher earner will not be required to submit a self-assessment tax return in respect of the HICBC.

BUSINESS TAX

Tax relief for expenditure on plant and machinery
By way of a £1million Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) and, for companies only, unlimited ‘full expensing’, your business is likely to be able to claim 100% tax relief on qualifying equipment purchases.

Conditions may apply and, in some cases, the rate of tax relief in the year of purchase can be 50% or less. In particular, some connected or group businesses need to share their £1million AIA limit between them and this is something that HMRC are currently focusing on so please do talk to us if you have any concerns.

Motor vehicles
While vans and commercial vehicles will often qualify for 100% tax relief when purchased, the rate of tax relief for a car will be less, unless it is both brand-new and electric. The cost of buying other cars is tax relieved by way of an 18% or 6% annual writing down allowance, based on whether the car has carbon dioxide emissions of up to or more than 50g/km respectively.
HMRC had planned to update their guidance so that double-cab pick-ups with a payload of 1 tonne or more were reclassified from commercial goods vehicles to cars from 1 July 2024. This would have significantly hindered the tax reliefs available. However, in February they backtracked and committed to retaining the commercial vehicle tax treatment. Although it was not part of the Budget speech, legislation will soon follow to cement the commercial vehicle approach. This applies for both capital allowances and benefit-in-kind purposes (above).

Making Tax Digital (MTD)
Under the government’s MTD initiative, businesses will keep digital records and send a quarterly summary of their business income and expenses to HMRC using MTD-compatible software. These requirements will be phased in from April 2026, starting with income tax paying sole traders and property landlords with gross income over £50,000.

HMRC is re-launching its optional beta testing, with eligible businesses able to opt-in from April 2024. Please talk to us if you’d like to know more.

Using the cash basis to compute business profits
As first announced at last year’s Autumn Statement, it should be remembered that most unincorporated businesses will default onto the ‘cash basis’ of calculating taxable profits for the 2024/25 tax year and onwards. As a simplification measure for some, it will mean that your annual profits are calculated based on when you receive payments from customers and make payments to suppliers. Adjustments for stock and amounts owing by or to you will not be possible.

Some small businesses are already using the cash basis voluntarily and won’t be affected by the change.

It is possible to ‘opt-out’ of the cash basis and instead use traditional ‘accruals’ accounts (with adjustments for stock etc.) for tax purposes. The decision will affect the timing of your tax liabilities and will ultimately be based on your personal circumstances. Please talk to us for more information and to plan the approach for your business.

Tax relief for training costs
Alongside the Budget, HMRC has published updated guidance on tax deductions available to sole traders and self-employed individuals. Amid the AI revolution, the guidance clarifies that tax relief can be claimed on training costs relating to updating existing skills, maintaining pace with technological advancements, or changes in industry practices. 

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

Annual exemption
The capital gains tax (CGT) annual exemption will drop to £3,000 in 2024/25, down from £6,000 in 2023/24. This change will mean that those selling capital assets such as property or shares will pay more tax.

Rates
The main rates of CGT remain at 10% for basic rate taxpayers (or those disposing of a business that qualifies for Business Asset Disposal Relief) and then 20% in most other cases.

However, increased rates apply when the asset being sold is a residential property that is not your private residence. From 6 April 2024, the residential property CGT rate will remain at 18% for basic rate taxpayers but will reduce from 28% to 24% for those with residential property gains falling outside of their basic rate band.

This measure is intended to generate more transactions in the property market, benefitting those looking to move home or get on the property ladder.

Remember, for property disposals that give rise to CGT, tax payment and reporting obligations can arise just 60 days after your completion date so make sure you take advice in good time.

TAX REGIME FOR FURNISHED HOLIDAY LETS

If you let out residential or commercial property, the profits are taxed as part of your ‘other income’. If you sell property that has been rented out, capital gains tax is likely to apply. Generally, rental business activity attracts fewer tax reliefs than trading ventures. However, if a residential property meets the strict definition of a ‘furnished holiday let’ (FHL), enhanced tax relief rules are currently available.

It has been announced in the Budget that, from 6 April 2025, the concept of FHLs and their beneficial tax treatment will be abolished. Going forward, profits from FHLs will be taxed in the same way as any other rental property profits. If you own FHLs this will be disappointing, especially the loss of your possible claim to ‘Business Asset Disposal Relief’ on any future sale.
While the abolition won’t happen until 6 April 2025, it should be noted that there will be measures in place from Budget Day (6 March 2024) to prevent tax planning steps that artificially accelerate the disposal date of an FHL to a date before 6 April 2025.

Please get in touch for a more detailed analysis of how the withdrawal of the FHL status will affect you.

INHERITANCE TAX

Rates and thresholds
The main rate of inheritance tax remains at 40%, reduced to 36% for estates where 10% or more is left to charity.

The inheritance tax nil rate band continues to be frozen at £325,000. The residence nil rate band will also remain at £175,000 and the residence nil rate band taper will continue to start at £2million.

Agricultural property and woodlands relief
From 6 April 2024 the scope of agricultural property and woodlands relief will be limited to property in the UK. Property located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man will be treated the same as other property located outside the UK. 

Payment of inheritance tax before probate
From 1 April 2024, personal representatives of estates will no longer need to have sought commercial loans to pay inheritance tax before applying to obtain a ‘grant on credit’ from HMRC. This is a welcome relaxation.