23 NOV

Autumn Budget 2017: Highlights

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The chancellor, Philip Hammond presented his Autumn 2017 Budget on 22 November 2017. These are our highlights of his live speech.

Our full coverage, in a more user-friendly order (for tax advisers and their clients), will follow once the ‘small print’ has been published.

Brexit

• ‘At a critical stage’, the UK is still looking for a special relationship with Europe.
• The country should be prepared for every eventual outcome: £3b earmarked to deal with extra Brexit changes, in addition to £700m already budgeted.

Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) predictions (for the term of this government)

• Currently, 1.4 million unemployed: OBR predicts will fall by 600m.
• Productivity flat: GDP expected average 1.5%
• Debt too high: expected to peak this year and then start to decline. Currently 86.5% of GDP.

Investing in tech and infrastructure

• R & D Tax Credit to increase to 12%
• Doubling of EIS investment limits for knowledge-intensive companies
• Patient Capital ‘action plan’ to unlock cash for investment in companies
• A new British Bank fund, with standby in case funding, is no longer available post Brexit from the European Development Fund.

Cars, and car tech

• Autonomous vehicles: a new £400 million infrastructure fund
  • Joke to Jeremy Clarkson [who opposes autonomy]: not the first time you have been snubbed by Hammond and May

• £100m in Plug-In-Car Grant, and £40m for research into charging
• No BIK for at work vehicle charging of electrical vehicles
• New levy on new diesel cars
• Fuel duty continues to be frozen

Climate change

• Plastic bottle tax: a new charge on single-use bottles.

Training

• More Maths for everyone: training incentives for schools and pupils.
• Computer training from schools to workplaces includes a new partnership between Government, CBI  & TUC with £30m grant for distance learning.

VAT

• VAT refunds for certain taxpayers affected by Scottish VAT reforms

Regions

• Scotland: measures for oil and gas
• Wales: tolls to be abolished on Severn Bridge

Universal Credit

• Various measures to assist cash flow for claimants and address delivery of benefits
• Removal of 7-day wait and advances of up to 100% of benefit
• Full statement on 23/11/2017.

Income tax rates

From April 2018:

• Personal allowance rises to £11,850
• Higher rate threshold to rise to £46,350

National Living Wage will rise from £7.50 an hour to £7.83, as planned

Misc tax and benefits

Alcohol Tax

From April 2018

• Freeze on alcohol duty

From April 2019

• Increased duty on strong ciders

Travel

A new Young Persons Rail card

NHS

• £10b for capital investment in front-line services
• £2.8b extra for NHS England, over 3 years

Tax Avoidance & Evasion

• We hear that HMRC has ‘raked in an extra £160bn over seven years’.

Company tax

• Phased reduction in CT to continue
• Indexation allowance for capital gains for companies frozen at 31 Dec 2017

VAT 

• No changes to threshold: will consult on design of threshold
• Online markets: joint liability

Business Rates

• Annual uprating: switch from RPI to CPI moved forward by two years.
• Staircase tax: measures to compensate business affected by the high court ruling.
• Pub £1,000 discount to continue for a year.
• Revaluations will be every three years (instead of five)

Digitalisation and tax

• Government to publish a position paper on taxing digital platforms
• From April 2019 income tax on royalties paid by multinationals to their offshore companies in low tax jurisdictions

Grenfell Tower disaster

• More financial assistance to create community space, deal with mental health and support the local authorities.

Empty properties

• Local authorities to be allowed to set a 100% premium on council tax.

Housing

• Aim to increase the supply of land and re-start the SME housing sector
• £44b to be committed to loans and guarantees to deliver 300,000 homes per year
• Planning reforms to make use of urban land, a statement being made in due course.
• Review of the gap between the number planning permissions granted and buildings being built.
• New ‘growth corridor’ to Oxford.

Stamp Duty Land Tax

• No SDLT for first-time buyers purchasing homes costing up to £300,000
• Relief available on first £300,000 for homes costing up to £500,000 in London.