Autumn Budget: What does it mean for the legal and finance sectors?
Rishi Sunak has today outlined his Autumn budget. Here is a snapshot of what was said and the key things to note for companies in the legal and finance sectors.
Housing
£24bn will be earmarked for “a multi-year housing settlement”.
£11.5bn of which will be set aside to build up to 180,000 new affordable homes, which he says is the largest cash investment in a decade. Brownfield land will be targeted for the new homes.
Following the Grenfell disaster, £5bn will be made available to remove unsafe cladding from the highest risk buildings. This will be partially funded by the Residential Property Developers Tax. This will be levied on developers with profits over £25m at a rate of 4%.
Policing, Courts and Rehabilitation Services
Today’s budget will fund the government’s ambition to have 20,000 new police officers.
It also provides an extra £2.2bn for courts and rehabilitation services. Rishi says the budget will also improve funding for responses to rape cases.
In addition, £3.8bn has been allocated to the “biggest prison-building programme in a generation”.
Transport and the Northern Powerhouse
£21bn will be spent on roads and £46bn will be spent on railways. More than £5bn will be spent on cycling infrastructure, and the same will be spent on local minor roads. The government have also committed to spend £5.7bn on London-style transport systems across city regions.
However, the decision about Northern Powerhouse Rail and part of HS2 has been kicked down the kerb for now, with the announcement of the Integrated Rail Plan to come soon.
Sunak is also cancelling the planned rise in fuel duty, because with fuel prices at the highest level in eight years, he is “not prepared to add to the squeeze on families and small businesses”. This equates to a saving of around £8bn over the next 5 years.
Businesses hardest hit by the pandemic will get 50% rates discount
Sunak has confirmed a 50% business rates discount for companies in the retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors, for one year. The maximum discount a company will be able to claim is £110,000.
Change to Bank Taxes
Sunak has cut the bank surcharge that was introduced by George Osborne in 2015 to 3%.
With corporation tax rising to 25%, banks will now have to pay 28% instead of 33% on their profits.
National Living Wage Rise
The government has accepted the recommendation to make the living wage £9.50 an hour. Rishi says it will give those workers an additional £1,000 a year.
The universal credit taper rate will be cut from 63% to 55%.
Finally, for those who like a drink…
Alcohol duty is being simplified. Stronger spirits and wine will become more expensive. However, weaker alcohols like beer and rose will become cheaper.
There will also be a small producer relief, similar to the small brewer relief, which will include small cider makers.
In addition, Sunak is ending the duty premium on sparkling wines and cutting the duty premium on fruit ciders in line with apple ciders.
To support pubs, he’s announced a draught relief – a 5% duty cut on draught beer and ciders served from draught containers over 40 litres. This could cut the price of a pint by 3p.
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