You will have seen the Spring Budget announced by the Chancellor on Wednesday. There are a number of areas for our members to note.
One of the major announcements is that the starting rate for NI will change from 10% to 8% for 27 million workers across the UK from 6 April 2024. Since 6 January, millions of employees have been paying 10% on their earnings between £12,571 and £50,270, (previously 12%).
The government also made several announcements concerning updates to energy and fuel, some of which will be a welcome news for many businesses including a further freeze to fuel duty, the 5p cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel that was originally set to end later this month will be kept for another year. The Chancellor also announced an additional £120m for a government fund that invests in green energy projects.
Some other notable points include:
- “Windfall” tax on the profits of energy firms, which had been scheduled to end in March 2028 has been extended until 2029
- Threshold at which small businesses must register to pay VAT raised from £85,000 to £90,000 from April
- Covid-era government loan scheme for small businesses extended until March 2026
- Office for Budget Responsibility predicts UK economy to grow by 0.8% this year and 1.9% next year
- UK’s inflation rate forecast to fall below 2% by the end of June and continue to drop to 1.5% next year
