On 22 November 2017, the UK Chancellor, Philip Hammond, delivered the first Budget under the new annual tax policy-making cycle. Some of the Budget measures were expected – whereas others were a surprise.
For an in-depth legal update, Thomson Reuters Practical Law’s Tax Team analysed the Budget in real time and provides a summary of the key business tax announcements. Click here to view the Autumn 2017 Budget: key business tax announcements.
Highlights of Hammond’s Autumn Budget include:
The NHS will get £6.3 billion in new funding which will go towards upgrading buildings, improving care, and improving performance of A&Es. This figure for NHS funding is in order, according to Hammond, since the number of people being treated is at record levels. In his speech, Hammond clearly stated that ‘we will always back it’ as a fit NHS is paramount. Moreover, there is money set aside, and won’t come out of existing budget, to provide for NHS staff pay rises.
Fuel duty, for petrol and diesel cars, sees an eighth year frozen. However, Hammond raised excise duty on diesel vehicles and pledged the money raised would provide £220m to a clean air fund.
The duty on tobacco will rise: cigarettes by an increase of two percent above inflation and hand-rolling tobacco by an increase of three percent above inflation. However, the duty on beer wine, cider and spirits will be frozen.
A surprising announcement was that stamp duty land tax has been abolished for first-time buyers of homes worth between £300,000 and £500,000, depending upon the area of the UK. This means that 80 percent of people just getting onto the property ladder will pay no stamp duty.
Government support for housing will overall receive £44 billion. This is to help meet the target of building 300,000 new homes each year, and the government also will create five new ‘garden’ towns.
With already £700m spent, Hammond announces he has set aside an additional £3 billion for Brexit over the next two years.
The UK will have the first national advisory board for artificial intelligence. Standards for the use and ethics of AI and data will be set by the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation.
Thomson Reuters Practical Law’s Tax Team analysed the Budget in real time and delivered an in-depth legal update, which summarises the key business tax announcements. Click here to view the Autumn 2017 Budget: key business tax announcements.
