In his Autumn Statement, delivered today 6th March, Jeremy Hunt acknowledges high interest rates, but says the UK economy is now likely to grow faster than previously thought. Amongst a long list of announcements, some of immediate business interest include:
- Employee and self-employed National Insurance cut by another 2p. It is claimed the cut, to begin next month, is worth £450 a year for the average worker, slightly lower for the self-employed. This follows another 2p cut announced in last year’s Autumn Statement
- No change to personal income tax
- A freeze in alcohol duty, and an extension to the 5p cut in fuel duty
- An increase in the VAT threshold for small businesses, from £85,000 to £90,000
- New taxes on vapes
- Higher taxes for business class flights
Extended Key Points can be found on the BBC website
Here’s a more extensive summarised Press Notice
And if you are so inclined, you can check out the full 200+ page Spring Budget Statement