U-turns & Changes – What Happened to the Mini-Budget Announcements?

Google reviews
November 01, 2022
n

The majority of measures in former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget have been scrapped after new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tried to settle markets and politicians across the House of Commons with an Emergency Statement on October 17.

Gone is the controversial plan to remove the 45% top rate of tax, and the basic rate of tax will remain at 20% from April next year. Corporation Tax will also increase to 25% from the current 19% from April next year, an announcement made by now former Prime Minister Liz Truss days before she resigned the top job, to be replaced by Rishi Sunak. In addition, the IR35 and dividend tax cut reforms will not go ahead. 

What about the measures to help people with their energy bills?

The planned help with the Energy Price Guarantee – one of the key policies in Liz Truss’s short tenure – will remain in place until April 2023, but after this there will be a Treasury-led review into how best to help businesses and consumers with their bills going forwards.

Energy analysts Cornwall Insight have warned that following the removal of this support, bills could reach as high as £4,347 a year. How the Government plans to support bill payers after this time remains to be seen.

Were any of the benefits kept in place?

Thankfully, some of the mini-Budget announcements that were beneficial were kept in place by Mr Hunt. For example, the Stamp Duty Land Tax changes that came into effect on September 23 mean homebuyers will not pay any Stamp Duty on property purchases up to £250,000, and first-time buyers would not have to pay Stamp Duty on the first £425,000 of the property purchase.

Is the National Insurance rise still being scrapped on November 6?

The mini-Budget announcement to scrap the 1.25% rise in National Insurance from November 6 was another measure that escaped the chop by Mr Hunt, and the Health and Social Care Levy which was due to come into effect from April next year will not be implemented as Mr Hunt continued with the plan outlined by his predecessor. 

Warning of pain ahead

However, both Mr Hunt and the new PM Rishi Sunak have been at pains to outline that there are likely to be difficult times ahead. Mr Hunt made this clear in his speech on October 17, when he also referenced Ms Truss’ “mistakes”. 

The Chancellor’s Autumn Statement will now take place on November 17, delaying a planned medium-term fiscal statement on October 31 to offer a more comprehensive Autumn Budget. This will also include the Office for Budget Responsibilities’ forecast, a key ingredient that was missing in Mr Kwarteng’s mini-Budget which was part of the reason markets reacted so badly to the apparently unfunded announcements. We will keep you updated at the end of November with any further changes. 

Contact us

There is no doubt things are currently changing at pace, so if you want any assistance to keep up with what is going on to protect your own or your business’s finances, please contact us and we will give you all the help, support and information you need.

blog November

Resources

Recent Articles

Are your employee benefits as good as you think?

Are your employee benefits as good as you think?

Many companies offer employee benefits to encourage the best people to join their team, or maximise the chances of encouraging existing employees to stay. But are the benefits you offer as effective as you think they are? Recent research from employee benefit...

New rules from April for pension scheme returns – are you ready?

New rules from April for pension scheme returns – are you ready?

From April 6, anyone managing a pension scheme will need to submit their pension scheme return (PSR) on the Managing Pension Schemes service, with the Pension Schemes Online service no longer being used for this. This will apply to the returns for 2024/2025 and you...

Ready to join us?

Whether you’re a contractor, freelancer, or small business, Bright Ideas can help remove the burden of time-consuming and complex finances. We’ll draw on our years of knowledge and experience earned helping sole traders just like you.

When you choose us, you’ll be assigned a dedicated Account Manager who’ll provide one-on-one support that’s customised to your business. Communication is key, so we’ll always answer your questions or requests as soon as we can. In fact, we offer a same-day response guarantee for emails and calls received before 3pm.

Contact us to get started

Give us a call us or send an email today!

Looking to Switch Accountants?

Does your current accountant give 1-to-1 support? Are they fast and thorough?
Slap-dash services hold businesses back, so try our expert accountants instead. We make the transition simple, get in contact with us today and we’ll start the process.

Start the conversation

Let’s make your finances Brighter

Call us Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm

0161 669 4221

Request a call back