Friday 22 March 2013

Budget 2013 - Aspiration Nation!

The Chancellor delivered his 2013 Budget for an “aspiration nation” on 20 March 2013.

George Osborne announced tax cuts to help voters with the spiralling cost of living and tax breaks to benefit businesses and promote the UK as “the place” to start and grow business in Europe.

The Autumn Statement and previous announcements largely removed the surprise factor from the Budget, such as the drop in the additional rate of income tax to 45%, a step towards unifying the main rate and small profits rate of corporation tax, a cap on income tax reliefs and the introduction of a new statutory residence test.  The Budget merely accelerated or stalled what we already knew, as opposed to excite and inspire what we didn’t.

Below sets out the key data of the tax highlights from the 2013 Budget:

Personal allowance – the tax-free allowance will increase to £10,000 from April 2014.

Corporation tax – a single rate of 20% for companies from April 2015.

Employment Allowance – a £2,000 allowance for businesses to set against their employer national insurance contributions from April 2014.

State pension reforms – a single-tier state pension of £144 per week will be introduced from 2016.

Pension allowances – the annual allowance for pension contributions will reduce from £50,000 to £40,000 as from 2014/15.

Childcare scheme – a new tax-free childcare scheme, worth up to £1,200 for each child, to be phased in from autumn 2015.

Mortgage lending – a government backed “help to buy” scheme to guarantee up to £130bn of home loans to assist house buyers who cannot afford a large deposit.

Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme – a one year extension of capital gains tax reinvestment relief.

If you wish to discuss any issues concerning the Budget please feel free to contact:
(Uxbridge office):   Simon Boxall,   t: 01895 236335, e: simon.boxall@wardwilliams.co.uk  
(Weybridge office):   Sarah Brock,  t: 01932 830664, e: sarah.brock@wardwilliams.co.uk
(Sunninghill office):  Kath van Eyken,  t: 01344 624114, e: kath.vaneyken@wardwilliams.co.uk  

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