On Monday 29th October 2018, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, delivered the Autumn Budget.

In his speech, the Chancellor announced that “the era of austerity is finally coming to an end”. He explained that wage growth is at its highest in nearly a decade, and that 3.3 million more people are in work since 2010 and a further 800,000 more jobs are forecasted to be created by 2022.

In the budget, he announced that the Personal Tax Income Allowance thresholds are to rise from £11,850 to £12,500, and from £46,350 to £50,000 for the higher- rate thresholds in April 2019 – a year earlier than planned. He also introduced an increase of 4.9% to the National Living Wage.

He outlined a need to clamp down on the abuse of certain Business Tax regimes, addressed by capping R&D SME tax reliefs and changing the tax treatment of corporate capital loses, amongst other measures.

The budget also introduced a range of changes to help smaller businesses thrive, such as a cut in Business Rate Relief for smaller retailers, saving qualifying businesses an average of £8,000 for 90%, a decrease in apprenticeship fees, and an increase in the Annual Investment Allowance.

If you would like any further information or advice on any of the issues or changes noted in the budget, and how they may affect you and your business, please get in touch with one of our Tax experts.

To download our comprehensive summary of the 2018 Autumn Budget, please click here.

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