We have pleasure in attaching our summary of the key announcements in the 2023 Autumn Statement.
The Chancellor decided to prioritise short-term tax cuts over maintaining future expenditure. The most headline-grabbing moves were cuts to national insurance and making the expensing of corporate investment in qualifying plant and machinery permanent. Some of the rumoured changes, such as inheritance tax reform, did not appear.
Some of the key announcements covered were:
- A cut in the main rate of Class 1 employee NICs from 12% to 10% taking effect from as soon as 6 January 2024. There will be a reduction in the main rate of Class 4 self-employed NICs from 9% to 8% from 6 April 2024 when Class 2 NICs will be abolished.
- Making permanent the full expensing of investments by companies in qualifying plant and machinery so it will continue after April 2026.
- The continued freeze of the main income tax allowances and thresholds, the main national insurance contributions thresholds and the inheritance tax nil rate bands for 2024/25.
- A full triple lock increase of 8.5% for 2024/25 for state pensions and pension credit. Universal credit and most other benefits will increase by just 6.7% in line with CPI inflation to September 2023.
- Freedom for investors to make multiple subscriptions to ISAs of the same type each year from April 2024. Partial transfers of ISAs between providers will also be permitted.
- A 9.8% increase in the national living wage to £11.44 an hour.
We trust that you find the enclosed Autumn Statement Summary useful and that it is a helpful basis for a discussion with us about your financial future.