Please find attached a review of the Spring Budget delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 8th March 2017.
Jay Doshi, Tax Specialist, Visionary Accountants, St Albans said:
‘At Visionary Accountants we always recommend our clients plan ahead and regularly review their company finances. Having a business consultation at the start of the new tax year is beneficial to ensure that your company uses all its tax allowances and reliefs as soon as possible. If you would like a company or personal tax review please call the Visionary Accountants team on 01727 730550.’
Personal tax:
a) Increasing the personal allowance by £500 to £11,500.
b) The government has already announced that it will abolish Class 2 NICs – a flat-rate charge on the self-employed – from April 2018.
c) Dividend allowance – The tax-free dividend allowance will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,000 from April 2018.
d) Increased ISA allowance, which will rise to £20,000 from this April.
e) Different forms of remuneration – The government is consulting on: taxation of benefits in kind, accommodation benefits and employee expenses.
1. Introduction of the Lifetime ISA on 6 April 2017. The Lifetime ISA allows younger adults to save up to £4,000 each year and receive a generous bonus of up to £1,000 a year on these contributions, which can be withdrawn tax-free to put towards a first home or when they turn 60.
2. Business tax – The government will cut the rate of corporation tax to 19% from April 2017 and to 17% in 2020.
3. Offshore property developers – The government will amend legislation to ensure that all profits realised by offshore property developers developing land in the UK, including those on pre-existing contracts, are subject to tax, with effect from 8 March 2017.
4. Value Added Tax (VAT) – Registration and de-registration thresholds. From 1 April 2017 the VAT registration threshold will increase from £83,000 to £85,000 and the de-registration threshold will increase from £81,000 to £83,000.
5. Tax simplification – Following consultation, the government will increase the cash basis entry threshold to £150,000, and exit threshold to £300,000, and will extend the use of the cash basis to unincorporated landlords. The government will also simplify the rules on capital and revenue expenditure within the cash basis, to make it easier for businesses to work out whether their expenditure is deductible for tax.