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Autumn Budget 2018 – The Stand Out Headlines

30/10/2018

There was some good news for businesses in yesterday’s Autumn Budget Statement… please find below the main highlights…

Personal tax

The increase of personal tax allowances to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000 will be implemented a year earlier than previously planned and so will start from April 2019.

Business Rates

The chancellor vowed business rates for companies with a rateable value of £51,000 or less will be reduced by a third over two years.

IR35

After rumours that the new IR35 rules to bring the private sector into line with the current public sectors would be introduced from April 2019, it was announced yesterday that they would not be introduced to the private sector until April 2020. Also, the new rules will only affect large and medium sized businesses, which means that many of our small limited company clients will not be impacted…..yet!

Entrepreneurs’ relief

The qualifying ownership period for Entrepreneurs relief has been extended from 12 months to two years.

Annual investment allowance

Capital investment should be encouraged as businesses will now be able to take advantage of a higher AIA of £1 million for the two years beginning January 2019.

Research and development

R&D claims by companies that do not have employees will now be limited with refunds arising from research and development claims being contrained to the PAYE paid by the company.

Property tax

The main residence relief will be limited as the final qualifying period of ownership will be reduced to nine months.

SDLT

The SDLT exemption for joint first-time buyers acquiring a property of up to £500,000 has been extended and this measure is retrospective so some buyers in this position may be able to apply for a refund.

VAT

The VAT registration threshold, i.e. the threshold above which businesses are required to be VAT registered, will remain at the current level of £85,000 per annum for a further two years until 1 April 2022.

The team at HaesCooper accountants will now spend time working through the Autumn budget, highlighting opportunities to our clients. If you would like to learn more about how we can help you or your business with tax or accountancy services don’t hesitate to contact us by calling 01892 890099 or send an email to info@haescooper.com.