Philip Hammond has delivered his second Budget as Chancellor. The Chancellor put a positive spin on the Autumn Budget, with his vision of the UK being a “hub of enterprise and innovation, nurturing the talented” He made it clear that it was imperative that the UK was a “country fit for the future” delivering a Budget that he believes would provide the foundations.

Brexit

The Chancellor stated that it was important to deliver a Budget that would “embrace the opportunities of Brexit” and as such, £3 billion is to be set aside over the next 2 years to prepare for “every possible outcome” in the Brexit process.

Business rates

Business rate increase is to be set by CPI measure of inflation rather than RPI from April 2018.

VAT

The VAT threshold for small businesses to remain at £85,000 for two years.

Income Tax

In a measure to deal with tax avoidance, Income tax is to be applied from April 2019 on digital economy royalties to all UK sales which are paid to low tax-rate jurisdictions, which is predicted to raise £200 million a year.

Personal Tax

The tax-free personal allowance is to rise to £11,850 in April 2018. The higher rate tax threshold is to increase to £46,350.

National Living Wage

The National Living wage is set to increase from April 2018 by 4.4% from £7.50 per hour to £7.83 per hour.

Transport

The fuel duty rise for petrol and diesel cars scheduled for 2018 has been scrapped.

The chancellor pledged support to the electric and driverless vehicle industries whilst raising a levy against older diesels, with the existing supplement in company car tax increasing by 1%.

Vehicle excise duty for cars which not meet the required standards to rise by one band in April 2018.

The tax hike will not apply to van owners.

Short- haul air passenger duty rates and long haul economy rates are to be frozen.

Technology

A £500 million investment will be made in 5G mobile networks, fibre broadband and artificial intelligence.

There will be investment in maths, computer science and technical education.

R and D

An additional £2.3billion will be allocated to investment in research and development.

The chancellor pledged to drive R and D by increasing the R and D tax credit to 12%.

Summary

Whilst the Chancellor was urged to be big and bold with this Budget, where business is concerned, the Chancellor has seemed to exercise a high degree of caution. The VAT threshold remaining at £85,000 for a two year period will be good news for small businesses.

If you would like to discuss how any of these announcements might affect you or your business, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of our commercial team on 0845 287 0939 or email us.