Spring Budget 2024

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled the contents of his Spring Budget 2024 in the House of Commons, with a budget for long term growth, helping not just with the cost of living but with permanent cuts in taxation.

He also announced a reform to the High Income Child Benefit Charge, an NHS productivity plan, an increase to the repayment period for new loans from 12 months to 24 months, an end to a £90 charge for debt relief orders and a six-month extension to The Household Support Fund. Alcohol and fuel duty will also remain frozen until 2025.

He has also promised a lift on the VAT threshold for small businesses (SMEs) by providing £200m of funding to extend the Recovery Loans Scheme as it transitions to the Growth Guarantee Scheme. As well as an increase to VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April, the first in seven years.

Read more from AIA Partner, TheCityUK, on the Spring Budget and the financial and economic impact.

AIA Resources

Key announcements will be published on this page and statement coverage will be in the forthcoming issue of International Accountant magazine. AIA Members in Practice also have full access Tolley Tax Library and Online Seminars where all the announcements will be reflected.

Tax Card 2022/23 (Tax Card 2023/24 will shortly be updated)

Announcements from the Spring Budget 2024.

Here's a quick guide to the main announcements:

Taxation and Wages

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National insurance (NI) contributions for employees are being cut by 2p, from 10% to 8% from April. Self-employed NI rates to drop by 2p as well.
No change to fuel duty, with 5p cut announced in March 2022 still in place.
Alcohol duty freeze extended until February 2025.
Duty to be introduced on vaping liquids for the first time in October 2026. A one-off increase in tobacco duty will be made at the same time.
Abolishment of furnished holiday lettings regime due to the lack of properties available for long term rental by local people.
Stamp duty relief for people who purchase more than one dwelling in a single transaction, known as Multiple Dwellings Relief, is scrapped.
The higher rate of property Capital Gains tax reduced from 28% to 24%.
Energy Profits Levy, the windfall tax on UK-produced oil and gas, is extended to 2029.
Non-dom tax status abolished, which means foreign nationals who live in the UK, but are officially domiciled overseas, will no longer be able to avoid paying UK tax on their overseas income or capital gains. A "simpler" residency-based system to arrive in 2025.

Household

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To help make loans for household emergencies more affordable, there will be an increase to the repayment period for new loans from 12 months to 24 months, and an end to a £90 charge for debt relief orders.
The Household Support Fund, which allows local councils to help families via food banks, warm spaces and food vouchers, will be extended beyond 31 March by another six months.
To help people save there will be a new British Savings Bond, delivered through NSNI, which will offer a guaranteed rate, fixed for 3 years.
A new British ISA will allow an additional £5,000 annual investment for investments in UK equity. Includes all tax advantages of other ISAs and will be on top of the existing ISA allowances..
The threshold on the High Income Child Benefit Charge, which hits payments if one parent earns above £50,000 a year, is to move to a household-based system by 2026. As a more imminent help, the threshold will rise to £60,000 from April and the top of the taper at which it is withdrawn raised to £80,000.

Business

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Lift on the VAT threshold for small businesses by providing £200m of funding to extend the Recovery Loans Scheme as it transitions to the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
Increase to VAT registration threshold from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April – the first in seven years.
Eligible film studios in England will secure 40% relief on their gross business rates until 2034. Tax reliefs made permanent at 45% for touring and orchestral productions and 40% for non-touring productions.
NHS to get additional £2.5bn this year to tackle issues including waiting lists, and funding for a NHS productivity plan "in full" to boost digital transformation.
£230m to be spent on speeding up police response and officers' time, including by allowing people to report crimes by video call.

Growth

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A series of levelling-up measures includes £100m for areas including High Peak, Dundee, Conwy, Erewash, Redditch and Coventry to support "cultural projects".
Scotland to get extra £300m, Wales £170m and Northern Ireland £100m under the Barnett Formula.
North-East trailblazer devolution deal", with a package of support for the region potentially worth over £100m.
£188m allocated for projects in Sheffield, Blackpool and Liverpool.
A £242m investment in in Barking Riverside and Canary Wharf, which will see nearly 8,000 houses being built and create a hub for life science companies.
£160m spend on two nuclear sites. The first, on the island of Anglesey or Ynys Môn, is the Wylfa facility in north Wales, and £120m for green industries to develop technologies including offshore windfarms and carbon capture and storage projects.
Office for Budget Responsibility predicts UK GDP growth of 0.8% (0.7%) in 2024 and 1.9% (1.4%) in 2025 and expects Treasury borrowing of 91.7% of GDP (91.6%) in 2024/25, 92.8% (92.7%) in 2025/26.
To create a “British” ISA with an extra £5,000 tax-free allowance for the public to invest exclusively in UK.

Further information

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Raising standards in the tax advice market – strengthening the regulatory framework and improving registration

Alongside announcements made in the Spring Budget 2024, the government has issued a consultation relating to the tax advice market.

This consultation discusses the government’s intention to raise standards in the tax advice market through a strengthened regulatory framework. It sets out the 3 possible approaches to strengthening the framework: mandatory membership of a recognised professional body, joint HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – industry enforcement, and regulation by a separate statutory government body. The consultation also explores approaches to strengthen the controls on access to HMRC’s services for tax practitioners.

The consultation seeks views on:

potential approaches to raising standards
whether the government should pursue introducing a requirement for paid tax practitioners to be a member of a recognised professional body that supervises their professional standards
how professional bodies and the government can work together to raise standards of tax practitioners
which groups of tax practitioners should be in scope or excluded from the proposed option
a first step of mandating registration with HMRC for tax practitioners who wish to interact with HMRC on behalf of their clients, and the requirements that HMRC should establish to enable registration

AIA regularly meets with HMRC to ensure the views of its members are heard and we will respond to this consultation highlighting the benefits of professional body membership and how this strengthens the public interest.

read the consultation document

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