The budget was primarily about
- Support for Covid
- Fixing the deficit
- Rebuilding after Covid
1.Furlough
The furlough scheme will be extended to the end of September.
May/June – 80% with no employer contributions or NI
July – Employers to contribute 10%
Aug/Sept – Employers to contribute 20%
2.SEISS (self-employment income support scheme)
4th grant will cover Feb-April
5th grant will cover May-July for those most affected by Covid. Claims open July
80% of earnings. Calculations can now be based on 2019/20 tax returns for both grants provided that they were submitted by 2/3/21. This may bring support for an additional 600,000 people.
Turnover test: if turnover fell by <30% then only 30% grant (rather than 80%) is available
3.Universal credit
The £20/week uplift will continue for a further 6 months
4.Apprentices
The apprentice incentive payment will double to £3,000 for new hires of any age
5. Restart grants
Non-essential retail businesses will receive up to £6,000
Hospitality and leisure businesses will receive up to £18,000
Local authorities will have an additional £425M for discretionary business grants bringing this to £2.025B
6.National Living Wage (formerly minimum wage)
Increases to £8.91
7.Cultural Recovery Fund
£30M additional funding bringing this to £1.87M
£2.8M to support the UK and Ireland’s bid to host the 2030 World Cup
£25M to help grassroots football
8.Domestic violence support
Extra £19M. This problem has been highlighted during lockdown
9.Recovery Loans Scheme
These will replace the BBIL and CBILs which will end soon
Loans from £25,000 – £10M through to the end of this year.
Government will guarantee 80%
10.Business rates
100% business rates holiday will continue to the end of June
2/3 reduction for the following 9 months up to a value of £2M per business.
Eligible businesses will receive a 75% reduction next year
11. Reduced rate of VAT for hospitality and tourism
The VAT reduction to 5% will continue until September. From 1 October it will increase to 12.5% until March and will return to the full 20% from April 2022
12.Stamp Duty
There will be a tapered extension of the Stamp Duty holiday until 30 September. Remember that you must complete by this date to take advantage.
Those buying homes under £500,000 will have 3 months to complete
Those buying homes under £250,000 will have until September
The cut in stamp duty has had an inflationary impact on house prices
13.Mortgage guarantee
Government will offer lenders a guarantee to encourage them to provide 95% mortgages.
14.Tax thresholds
The personal allowance has been increased to £12,570 and the higher rate kicks in at £50,270. These are frozen until April 2026 so more people will gradually pay tax at higher levels
IHT, CGT and pensions lifetime allowance are also frozen until 2026
VAT threshold stays at £85k for two years
15.Taxpayer Protection Force
A new £100M team of 1,250 staff will crack down on Covid fraudsters
16.Corporation tax
From April 2023 corporation tax will increase from 19% to 25%!
There will be a Small Profits Rate of 19% for a business with profits of £50,000 or less so that 70% of businesses (1.4M) are unaffected.
There will be a taper from £50,000 t0 £250,000 profit so only 10% of companies will pay the full rate.
Loss allowances will be more generous so companies can carry back losses of £2M for 3 years and claim tax refunds of up to £760k on losses
17.Super Deduction
For the next two years companies investing in new equipment can reduce their tax bill with a super deduction of 130% of the cost. This will encourage companies to invest sooner. (130% x 19% current CT rate =24.7% so approximately the same as 100% x 25% when CT rates increase in two years time)
Worth £25B over two years
18. Alcohol and fuel duty
Increases are cancelled so these will remain the same
19.Help to grow
Executive development programme delivered through business schools over 12 weeks from June. Practical curriculum, 1:1 business mentor, peer-learning sessions and alumni network. 30,000 places over 3 years. 90% subsidised so cost to participants is £750
Free online advice and 50% off software worth up to £5,000 that will help businesses:
- Build customer relationships and increase sales
- Make the most of selling online
- Manage their accounts and finances digitally
Must be purchasing the software for the first time.
Available to UK businesses that have been operating >1 year and have 5-249 employees.
Full details to follow in the Summer gov.uk/helptogrow
20.Visa changes
Fast track for high-skilled workers including researchers, engineers, scientists, and tech sector.
New unsponsored points-based visa for science, research and tech
Expanding UK’s Global Entrepreneur Programme for scale-ups and entrepreneurs
21.EMI and R&D relief
Consultations our today
22.Future Fund
Scale-up funding for innovative technology businesses
Companies with high R&D intensity that are aiming to raise at least £20M funding
23.Capital Gains tax
Annual exempt amount is frozen.
24.Eight freeport locations
- Thames
- Liverpool City Region
- Solent
- East Midlands
- Freeport East (Felixstowe and Harwich)
- Plymouth and South Devon
- Humber
- Teeside
This is all the information that we have for now
- We will update this blog as we receive and digest further general information
- We will contact clients directly where we believe that they need to take action.