Nick Thompson

Autumn 2024 Budget Highlights for UK SMEs 📊 Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Autumn 2024 Budget, presented on 30 October, brings impactful changes for UK businesses, focusing on fiscal stability and investment. Here’s a summary of key elements: No Rise in Key Taxes 🚫 Income Tax, VAT, and Corporation Tax (CT) rates remain steady, with CT capped at 25% for small profits. Full Expensing, Annual Investment Allowance, and R&D reliefs are maintained. Employers’ National Insurance Increase 💷 From April 2025, the rate rises to 15%, with the threshold lowering to £5,000. This change could affect salary structures and increase costs for employers, potentially encouraging a shift to contractor hiring. Enhanced Employment Allowance 💼 To offset National Insurance increases, Employment Allowance doubles to £10,500, benefiting smaller businesses. National Living Wage Increase 📈 Effective April 2025, the National Living Wage will increase by 6.7% to £12.21/hour. The National Minimum Wage also rises, with potential cost implications for employers. Capital Gains Tax (CGT) Adjustments 💰 CGT rates increase by up to 8 percentage points, with business disposal reliefs gradually rising through 2026, aimed at supporting entrepreneurship. Fuel Duty Frozen ⛽ No increase in Fuel Duty until March 2026, providing relief to businesses dependent on transportation. Stamp Duty Land Tax Changes 🏡 An increase to 5% for additional properties from 31 October 2024, designed to support primary homebuyers. This budget brings a blend of tax increases and relief measures, presenting both challenges and opportunities for UK SMEs. Business owners may need to adapt strategies to manage rising employment and operational costs while leveraging reliefs and allowances.

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📋Interested in what business confidence is looking like for the rest of 2024? The ICAEW released their latest Business Confidence Monitor, based on 1,000 interviews with ICAEW Chartered Accountants from a range of UK sectors, regions and company sizes. Read our expert commentary on the findings below ⬇️

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Making financial gifts can be one of the easiest Inheritance Tax planning tools that you have access to ……. But sometimes it’s more complex. 💭 ⁉️ Ensure you understand your tax exposure before gifting (or transferring ownership), as well as the impact it may have with regards to any access and control. Our Tax experts have written a handy guide to help you understand IHT ➡ https://lnkd.in/g3-8gdzg #inheritance #legacyplanning #successionplanning #tax #financialplanning

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The first major change to #tax affecting individuals has now been confirmed with the announcement that #VAT will be applied to private school fees from 1st January 2025. There are anti-avoidance measures in place for those who want to pay in advance, so careful planning is needed. But will this be an automatic 20% increase to current fees, or will schools have the ability (and appetite) to reduce their base fees if they can reclaim VAT on expenditure when they become VAT registered? This will definitely be an area of personal #financialplanning which will need careful consideration, especially with many parents committing to a payment period of 13 years per child in many cases. Understanding how this increase in costs will impact you both now, and over the longer term is vital to ensure you remain on track with your wider plans. Now would be a good time to review your cashflow forecasts with your financial planner. #personalfinance #wealthmanagement Juliet Bailey Stephanie Jackson Adam Green APFS, CFP™ https://lnkd.in/eR7ywG3d

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Will I need to pay #VAT on school fees? One of the most popular questions we have heard from our clients over the last few weeks. As part of its 2024 election manifesto, Labour has committed to the removal of several tax exemptions from private schools resulting in additional VAT costs and compliance obligations. But will it be an automatic 20% addition to fees? Can you and should you consider paying fees up fron? Could there be anti-avoidance rules? Will schools be able to claim VAT on costs and will this in fact lower fees? Lots to think about so our VAT team have outlined a number of potential areas which may be affected by these anticipated changes. Ultimately, we don't have a crystal ball but once any changes are known it will be important to properly plan (whether you are a school or you are paying the fees!). Find out more ➡ : https://lnkd.in/e6P9qSTh #financialplanning #schoolfees #wealthmanagement #taxplanning Juliet Bailey Stephanie Jackson Tom Yarwood Victoria Foster Adam Green APFS, CFP™ Brad Edens APFS Robert Barwise-Carr Jamie Rhodes Jessica Rayner

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📢📢 our CFO agenda has been refreshed! See the key topics that CFOs and finance leaders are talking to us about below 👇👇 #CFOagenda Grant Thornton UK LLP

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The preparation of the annual Budget Forecast is always a highlight for any academy trust CFO! There are a few tweaks this year, we have summarised these along with a link to some useful ESFA guidance on the responsibilities and requirements around pension schemes (another hot topic in the last year or so). If you have any questions or need guidance, please speak to your usual Azets contact. #academies #budgetforecastreturn #bfr #LGPS

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🔍 My latest contribution to Taxation magazine for a Q&A on............... the *oh-so-exciting* topic of a HMRC consultation document & draft legislation - "THE #CARF and #CRS 2 consultation: outcomes, implications & next steps." but hear me out.... 🔍 The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) is shaping up to be a real game-changer for #HMRC, offering unprecedented visibility into crypto transactions. Sure, this also means more work for intermediaries (RCASPs do need to understand who they are reporting to and what they are reporting on), but the added transparency could be incredibly valuable for the industry as a whole. For anyone else excited by this, pls share your thoughts below! A link to the article: https://lnkd.in/dcPW8gzK for subscribers.

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There are specials rules that apply to UK property sales by non-residents. Since 6 April 2020 non-residents have needed to report and pay any non-resident Capital Gains Tax (CGT) due if they have sold or disposed of: #NonResidents #NonResidentUKPropertySales

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'I don’t have any plans to increase capital gains tax. There are people who have built up their own businesses who maybe at retirement want to sell that business. They may not have had huge income through their life if they’ve reinvested in their business, but this is their retirement pot of money.' You often hear about how the rate of CGT is about to go up (often from people who'd quite like to make some money from you crystallising a disposal now). This piece looks at how likely that really is post-election. #tax #rsm #cgt https://lnkd.in/eYDKi_RG

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The updated FRS102 has now been issued, impacting companies from 2026… but as we all know planning is key, here we explore the key changes ahead of the implementation date. If you would like to discuss any aspect please speak with our MC team!

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#AutumnBudget2024 Yesterday's Budget gave some much needed certainty and as widely expected, significant changes have been announced to almost all of the headline taxes, including:   🔔 Alignment of CGT residential and non-residential rates up to 18% and 24%, and scaling back Business Asset relief   🔔 Expansion of IHT to capture pension pots, and restricting relief for agricultural and business assets including AIM shares   🔔 Reform to non-dom regime to be replaced with a residence-based regime, with some generosity in transitional provisions and the IHT 'tail' but protection for offshore trusts to be removed   🔔 Employer NIC rate increasing to 15% and the threshold at which employers start to pay NIC to be halved   Interestingly a raft of measures, the "most ambitious ever" according to the government's policy paper, have also been announced to target the tax gap. Significant investment into HMRC's resources against non-compliance and tax fraud, and consultations on reforming HMRC's corrective powers and processes have all been pledged. Follow Crowe UK as we continue to digest the announcements and what they will mean for you and your clients

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Following a stable first half of the year, UK manufacturers performance in the third quarter reveals a mixed picture for the sector. Download our report with Make UK for the latest findings: https://lnkd.in/eYmQVZ-A #UKmanufacturing #UKmfg #manufacturingoutlook #supplychains

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AUTUMN BUDGET ’24: CGT & BADR CHANGES 💼 From yesterday, the lower rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) will increase from 10% to 18%. The higher rate of CGT will increase from 20% to 24%. The rates for sale of residential property remain unaltered. The ‘carried interest’ CGT rate is increasing to 32% from April 2025, with further reform from April 2026 to tax it under income tax. ‘Carried interest’ is a share of the profits generated by an investment fund, paid out to the fund’s investment managers. Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR) stays at 10% for 2024/25, then 14% from 2025/26, then 18% from 2026/27. The 14% difference between sales qualifying for BADR and the new main rate of CGT should be an incentive to move sales forwards to before April 2025. Stay tuned for our full Budget breakdown, releasing soon. https://lnkd.in/ePZrjsW7 #AutumnBudget2024 #BudgetUpdates

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Hot off the press...more detailed information from Grant Thornton UK LLP on the upcoming changes to FRS102 and what you need to be thinking about in advance, with our very own Jennifer Ilsley bringing to life some of the key considerations in this short video #FAAS #FRS102 #financialreporting #accountingstandards

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‼️We expected some changes to the proposed new rules for non-domicile individuals, but this week Rachel Reeves provided Labour’s policy paper which sets out the proposed new rules which should will come into effect from April 2025 (I should caveat that there is a Budget on 30th October so it’s possible further changes could be made!). The main points included: - Replacement of the remittance basis of tax - A proposed transitional arrangement for foreign income - Replacing the current domicile regime for #IHT to a residency based one - Ending the use of Excluded Property Trusts (with some arrangements expected for the continued use of existing trusts) These are major changes for anyone who is not currently UK domiciled, so now is the time to get your #taxplanning in order if you want to make the most of the opportunities that you may have ahead of April 2025 ⏰ Follow our updates here: https://lnkd.in/eAQhFsRd. Paul Barham Sadie Harrison Robert Barwise-Carr #international #financialplanning #tax

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