Here are some of the key points from the budget of 27 October 2021:
National Living Wages (NLW) and National Minimum wage (NMW)
- NMW & NLW will increase from April 2021 as follows:
- 25 years and over increase from £8.91 to £9.50 per hour, an increase of 6.6%.
- 21 to 24 years old increase from £8.36 to £9.18 per hour, an increase of 9.8%.
- 18 to 20 years old increase from £6.56 to £6.83 per hour, an increase of 4.1%.
- 16 to 17 years old increase from £4.62 to £4.81 per hour, an increase of 4.1%.
- apprentices increase from £4.30 to £4.81 per hour, an increase of 11.9%.
Corporation Tax
- Bank surcharge within corporation tax will be retained at 3% and overall corporate tax rate on banks will increase from 27% to 28% in 2023
Capital Allowances and reliefs
- The £1 million Annual Investment Allowance will not end in December as planned. It will be extended to March 2023.
- Museums and cultural attracting are getting £800m and the tax relief for museums and galleries, that was due to end in March next year, will be extended for another two years.
Business Rates
- Business rates will remain at the same rate
- Next year’s planned increase in the multiplier will be cancelled.
- New 50% business rates discount for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, including pubs, music venues, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, theatres, and gyms.
- Those who pay business rates will benefit from more frequent re-evaluations every three years from 2023.
- New investment relief to encourage businesses to adopt green technology such as solar panels
Other
- £200m on holiday activities and food for school pupils and there will be an extra £2bn to help pupils recover from Covid, taking the total education recovery fund to almost £5bn.
- Fuel duty will also be frozen
- An overhaul of alcohol duty, cutting the number of main duty rates from 15 to six – the stronger the drink, the higher the rate.
- Small producer relief will extend the principle of small brewers’ relief to small cidermakers and others making alcoholic drinks of less than 8.5% ABV.
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Sparkling wines will pay the same duty as still wines of equivalent strength, rather than the 28% they currently pay. Duty will also be cut for fruit cider
- Universal Credit taper rate will be cut by 8% no later than 1 December, bringing it down from 63% to 55%
This is meant as guidance only. No responsibility for loss occurred by any persons acting/refraining from action as a result of this information can be accepted by the Nicholson & Co (Sheffield) Ltd. It is always advisable to seek advice first.