Budget

Budget 2024

The first Labour Budget in 14 years placed great emphasis on investment into the economy, and unveiled £40bn of tax rises in an attempt to repair public finances.

AIA Resources

Key announcements will be published on this page and budget coverage will be in the forthcoming issue of International Accountant magazine. AIA Members in Practice also have full access Tolley Tax Library and Online Seminars where all the announcements will be reflected.

Tax Card 2023/24

Updated Tax Card coming soon.

Announcements from the UK Budget 2024.

Here's a quick guide to the main announcements:

Tax

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No change to existing 5p cut to fuel duty.
Air Passenger Duty to rise by “no more than £2 for economy class short-haul flight”. Rate to increase by 50% for private jets.
Non-draught Alcohol Duty to increase in-line with retail price inflation from February 2025. Draft Alcohol Duty to fall by 1.7%.
Tobacco duty to increase in-line with retail price inflation plus 2% every year. Hand-rolling tobacco rate to rise by 10%. Flat rate duty to be introduced on all vaping liquids.
Stamp-duty land tax surcharge for second homes to increase by 2% to 5%.
Non-domicile tax regime to be abolished and replaced with new resident-based scheme.

Business Tax

Lower rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to rise from 10% to 18%, higher rate of CGT to rise from 20% to 24%. No change to rates on property. Rate of relief to remain at 10% this year, rise to 14% in 2025, and 18% in 2026.
Increasing Capital Gains rates on carried interest to 32% from April 2025.
Increasing energy profits levy on oil and gas companies to 38%.
Corporation tax to remain at 25%.

Personal Tax

Freeze on inheritance tax thresholds extended two years, to 2030.
Inherited pensions brought into inheritance tax from April 2027. Agricultural property relief and business property relief to be “reformed.”
From April 2026, first £1m of combined business and agricultural assets will not incur inheritance tax but after will apply at effective rate of 20%.
No extension on the personal tax threshold freeze.
Confirmed VAT on private school fees.

Wages

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Minimum wage rise in April by 6.7% to £12.21 an hour.
“Single adult rate” phased in over time – increasing minimum wage from 18 to 20-year-olds by 16.3% to £10 an hour.
Employers’ National Insurance (NI) contributions rise by 1.2% to 15%, from April.
Lowered threshold at which companies start to pay NI on an employee’s salary, from £9,100 per year to £5,000.
Increased employment allowance from £5,000 to £10,500.
State pension to be uprated by 4.1% in 2025.

Government Spending

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Core schools budget to increase by £2.3bn in 2025, with extra £300 million for further education and tripling of investment in breakfast clubs.
Special educational needs spending to rise by 6% from this year.
Defence budget to rise by £2.9bn in 2025.
Essential services to receive £1.3bn extra grant funding: £600m more for social care, £230 to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.
10-year plan for NHS: £22bn increase in the day-today budget, £3.1 billion increase in capital spending this year and next. This includes £1bn to address backlog of repairs and upgrades, £1.5bn for new beds in hospitals, new diagnostics equipment and surgical hubs.
Further investment and modernisation for HMRC, including additional measures to close tax gap, recruiting additional HMRC compliance officers, new technology, clampdown on umbrella companies, increase in interest rates on unpaid tax debts.

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