Editors Notes

Every year there is a lot of speculation on what the Chancellor will do in the Budget. Predictions are always hard to make. This year it seemed even more polarised… Many wondered whether Rishi Sunak would increase taxes to pay for the Covid support packages. Or whether he’d put that off another year because, as he has said himself, this isn’t over yet and that support isn’t quite finished.

He talked about the huge debt and risk the country is in with regards to the interest repayments on this, but he pulled short of saying that tax rises are effectively inevitable. It feels like he has pushed this down the road, possibly until the next election or, more likely, until we know how well the economy recovers from the last twelve months and more.

There were only limited immediate tax rises, with the biggest tax rise, being put on limited companies, not coming into force for a further two years yet. It was a budget primarily focused on trying to stimulate recovery. It proved many of the more gloomy predictions wrong.

In line with our mission statement of being the best all-round advisers to owner-managers we have waded through the Budget report to pick out the areas of importance to you and your business. There is always something lurking in the small print so stay tuned as over the coming weeks we continue to analyse this, and we will keep you up to date with anything we find lurking in the detail.

Impact on Owner Managed Businesses

We have summarised the key items that may affect owner managed businesses in an our ‘impacts to owner managed businesses‘ article here. But to highlight some of the key areas that might be of interest to you:

  1. Tax boost for investing in plant and machinery: In a step to encourage businesses to spend and invest in their growth, a temporary two year “super-deduction” was announced meaning for every £100 a business spends on assets, it will get a taxable profit reduction of £130. This applies from 1 April 2021.
  2. Furlough Scheme extended: The furlough scheme will run to the 30 September 2021. However, from July it will cost employers more to use it. In July, employers will be expected to pay 10% towards the hours their staff do not work (with the Government contributing 70%). In August and September, this will increase to 20% from the employer (meaning 60% from the Government).
  3. Self Employed Income Support Scheme extended: There will be a fourth and fifth grant for self employed people facing reduced earnings. The last payment will now include self employed people who completed tax returns for the 2019/20 tax year who may have previously been excluded from the scheme. There will however be a turnover requirement that limits how much this final payment will be.
  4. Corporation Tax Rates set to rise in April 2023 to 25% for businesses with profits after £250,000: There will be a lower rate of 19% for businesses with taxable profits less than £50,000 and a tapered rate for those in between these bands. There are restrictions that affect groups and associated companies (as there was prior to April 2014).
  5. Losses made in 2020/21 and 2021/22 accounting periods can be carried back three years: This means you can get back some tax paid for the 3 years prior to the pandemic if your business has made losses.

In addition to these items we also detail:

  • Small changes to the income tax and national insurance bands
  • 2021/22 optimal drawing structure for owner managed limited companies
  • Restart grants for retail entertainment and gyms
  • New Recovery Loan Scheme announced
  • No changes made to Capital Gains Tax or Inheritance Tax rules

We cover all these items in much greater detail here. Click the link to see our article about the Impact on Owner Managed Businesses.

And if you are a fan of data (like me) you can download our tax rates table for 2021/2022 here.

Other Announcements

There were also a number of other announcements concerning broader issues which are worth a mention.

Read the other announcements by clicking the button below.

Reaction to the Budget

“This Budget provides reassurance to businesses, provided that they are able to restart and rebuild according to the Government’s road map.”
Dr Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce

“This announcement will bring hope to millions of business owners… That said, piling new wage costs on to the most precarious small employers on top of national insurance and pension contributions from July will put many under serious pressure… And company directors will be extremely disappointed to see that they appear to have been left out in the cold yet again.”
Mike Cherry, National Chairman of Federation of Small Businesses

“The extension to the furlough scheme [and self-employment grants] will provide a vital cushion to support jobs as restrictions unwind and firms begin the costly process of rescaling… but the Chancellor missed a trick by not providing grants for company directors, who continue to be left out in the cold.”
Jonathon Geldart, Director General of the Institute of Directors

Other pages of interest…

Impact on Owner-Managed Businesses

Find out more

Tax Rates & Allowances

Download

Other announcements 

Read now

Coronavirus Business Advice Hub

Get further support