A fiscal U-turn without precedent!

Over the last few days, we have seen a gradual dismantling of the mini-budget of Friday 23 September 2022, along with the economic policies that Prime Minister Liz Truss based her leadership campaign on.

On Friday 14th October, Ms Truss announced a change of Chancellor, from Kwasi Kwarteng to Jeremy Hunt. This was swiftly followed by a series of U-turns culminating in Mr Hunt delivering an ‘emergency statement’ on Monday 17th October.  This emergency statement effectively replaces and re-writes the mini-budget.

Designed to ensure the UK’s economic stability and provide confidence in the Government’s commitment to fiscal discipline, the emergency statement confirmed:

• Income tax – the basic rate of income tax will remain at 20% until economic conditions allow for it to be cut. This had been due to drop to 19% from 6 April 2023.

It had already been confirmed that the 45% ‘additional rate’ of income tax for those earning more than £150,000 a year, would remain in place.

• Income tax on dividends – will remain at the current rates of 8.75% in the basic rate band, 33.75% in the higher rate band and 39.35% in the additional rate band. They had been due to each drop by 1.25 percentage points from 6 April 2023.
• Corporation tax – the increase in the main rate of corporation tax rate to 25%, already legislated to come in from 1 April 2023, will go ahead. Companies with profits up to £50,000 will continue to pay tax at 19%, whilst those with profits of £250,000 and above will pay at the new 25% rate.  Where profits fall between these two figures, tax is calculated at 25% on the total amount of profits, before an amount of marginal relief is applied to reduce the overall rate.
• IR35 – the off-payrolling rules, as introduced in 2017 and 2021, will remain into 2023/24 and beyond. This keeps the IR35 compliance burden with medium and large sized employers.
• Energy Price Guarantee – the support for households to cap average annual electricity and gas costs at £2,500 will be reviewed in April 2023. We had been told that households would receive this support until September 2024.
• VAT – a VAT-free shopping scheme for non-UK visitors to Great Britain will no longer be pursued.
• Alcohol duties – will not be now frozen from 1 February 2023 and increased duties will apply.

The following mini-budget announcements remain:

• The 1.25% rise in NICs will still be reversed from 6 November and the government will not go ahead with the planned1.25% levy to fund health and social care next year.
• The annual investment allowance will remain at £1 million from 1 April 2023, rather than reverting to £200,000.
• There are to be more than 40 new “investment zones” in England.
• The increased thresholds for Stamp Duty Land Tax in England and Northern Ireland, as implemented from 23 September, will remain in place.
• The Energy Bill Relief Scheme for Business will continue to be subject to a governmental review after 31 March 2023. The Chancellor has now said that any support for businesses will be targeted to those most affected, and that the new approach will better incentivise energy efficiency.

On 31 October, Mr Hunt will present an update on the government’s medium term fiscal plan, complete with Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts. Further changes to fiscal policy are expected to be announced at this time.

We are clearly in turbulent political and economic times and faced with such uncertainty you may ask yourself “What actions can I take as a business owner?”.

It is a good time to look at your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and get a clear understanding of its position in the marketplace, the competition, the systems and the way things are done and the improvements that could be made. Focus on what the business is to look like when it is “complete” or running profitably and successfully. Then you can determine priorities – the big issues that need to be focussed on – then you can make a plan.

It is also a good idea to plan for a range of scenarios “good and bad” so that you can be flexible about the direction your business should take.

Please talk to us about your plans, we can assist with cash flow planning and “what if” scenarios.