As Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stood at the dispatch box and declared this a budget for “Britain’s Growth” I lost count of the number of mentions of the word enterprise. So it was clear that he wanted to position himself as a sensible, business-oriented, growth-friendly Chancellor.
Whilst most of it had been leaked/fed to the press beforehand, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few surprises thrown in. A nice little boost for public leisure centres caught my attention, but sadly, £63m won’t go that far.
We will be sitting down tomorrow morning to draw up a list of clients whose financial plans are affected and will be in touch directly with those positively or negatively affected, but if you do have any questions, please let us know.
Here is our summary of the key points for Personal and Business Financial Planning:
Pensions
- Pension Lifetime Allowance abolished
- Tax-Free Cash is capped at £268,375 unless protected under previous regimes.
- Pension Annual Allowance increased to £60,000 from £40,000
- Tapered annual allowance increases to £10,000 from £4,000
- This only affects those with ‘adjusted’ earnings over £260,000
- Money Purchase annual allowance increase to £10,000 from £4,000
- This affects those already drawing income from their money-purchase pensions.
ISAs and other personal savings
- ISA limits are maintained
Energy Price Guarantee
- The Energy Price Guarantee will be kept at £2,500 for an additional three months from April to June, saving a typical household £160.
Childcare Benefits
- Childcare support will come up-front. The limit on maximum support will rise after being frozen at £646 a month for years.
- The 30 hours of free childcare per week for 38 weeks of support will be extended to one- and two-year-olds from September 2024.
Personal Taxes
- They are lowering the additional tax rate threshold (45%) from £150,000 to £125,000
- Other thresholds are frozen until 2028
Inheritance Tax
- Thresholds remain frozen until 2028
Business Taxes
- Corporation tax will still rise to 25% from 19% as planned
- The super deduction is being replaced with “full capital expensing” for three years
The information in this blog is correct to the best of our understanding on the 15th of March 2023. It will be updated as more information is digested. It should not be read as advice, and individual bespoke advice should be sought before taking any action.
