Spring Budget U-Turn

Spring Budget U-Turn – No increase to Class 4 NIC afterall

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has delivered the final Spring Budget. This is not the first time this has been attempted however. Twenty four years ago, Norman Lamont, made the same announcement only to be sacked ten weeks later!  Listening to Philip Hammond, at times one did wonder if this was not a Labour budget given the measures designed to make small businesses pay more tax.

Now, however, Philip Hammond has had to make an embarassing Spring Budget U-turn and change his mind regarding Class 4 NIC.  (See below). In this also, he is not alone as many chancellors have changed their mind, but that as they say, ‘is another story’.

Class 4 NIC

This NIC charge on self-employed business profits (not corporates) above a certain limit was set to  increase from 9% to 10% in April 2018 and to 11% in April 2019. With the abolition of Class 2 NIC next year, the Chancellor felt it necessary to close the NIC gap between the self-employed and the employed. Particularly as the self-employed have, since April 2016, been able to access the same State Pension as employees.

Mr Hammond however appeared oblivious to the 2015 Tory manifesto which said, “A Conservative Government will not increase the rates of VAT, income tax or National Insurance in the next Parliament”, until it was pointed out to him! Following criticism from the self-employed, business lobby groups and his own party colleagues, in a spectacular u-turn, the chancellor last week announced that there would be no increase to Class 4 NIC in this parliament. Instead, the £2 billion the proposal was set to reap will be made up by measures to be announced in the Autumn Budget.

Dividend tax allowance

As from 6^th April 2018 the tax-free allowance will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,000. This will mean that director-shareholders will pay an extra £225 on their dividend income. Apparently, Mr Hammond believes this will help deter businesses incorporating purely for tax motives. What he fails to appreciate however is that contractors don’t automatically choose to form their own companies. Rather this is driven by large corporates and the public sector who won’t deal with them in any other form. Yet it is far simpler to whack the small businessman rather than ruffle the feathers of the government’s friends in high places.

VAT thresholds

From 1^st April 2017, the VAT registration threshold will increase from £83,000 to £85,000 and the deregistration threshold from £81,000 to £83,000.

Benefits in kind

The government is considering how the tax system could be made fairer and more coherent, including looking at the taxation of benefits in kind and employer expenses. Consultations will be made in respect of:

• Taxation of benefits in kind
• Accommodation benefits
• Employee expenses

Rent-a-room relief

Rent-a-room relief that enables owner-occupiers and tenants to earn up to £7,500 tax-free per tax year from the letting of furnished accommodation in their home is to be redesigned to ensure that it is better targeted to support longer term lettings. A consultation paper will be published later.

Making Tax Digital

Unincorporated businesses with a turnover below the VAT threshold will be given a further year’s grace, ie until April 2019, to prepare for digital record keeping and quarterly updates. Limited companies are still on course to join MTD in April 2020.

For more information regarding salary visit Salary / Dividends Strategy

For those of you who also wish to make a u-turn and switch to a Contractor Accountant, why not take a look at ‘switching‘.  It really couldn’t be easier.