Company Taxes
It was confirmed that the rate of company income tax (Corporation tax) will remain at 19%.
The Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) which is the amount of capital expenditure a company may set off in full against its company tax will remain at GBP 1 million per year. It had been planned to fall.
Social costs (called National Insurance in the UK)
Company paid social costs will reduce by 1.25% to 12.0% from November 2022.
Personal Taxes
The starting rate of income tax, which is applied to income over GBP 12,570 per year, will reduce by 1% point to 19% from April 2023, which is the start of the new tax year. The 45% rate, applicable to incomes over GBP 150,000 will be removed, so that the highest rate of income tax will be 40%*
Raising finance
Changes to the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme which will take effect from April 2023 were announced. These include increasing the amount of money a start up can raise using the scheme, which gives personal tax relief to investors, to GBP 250,000 per year and increasing the amount of tax relief the individual investor can claim to GBP 200,000.
Investment Zones
Plans to create Investment Zones across the UK were announced. These will give significant benefits from reductions to Social Costs and property taxes to businesses which create employment in the zones. More information will follow when it is available.
Energy Costs
The UK only imports about 2% of its natural gas indirectly from Russia, and over 50% of its electricity is produced from non fossil fuel sources such as wind and nuclear. The government announced plans to increase natural gas supply from the North Sea to replace imports whilst the global shortage continues, and to encourage further investment in wind farms.
Immigration
There was also a recognition that the UK needs more people to drive its growth forwards, and there the government has announced plans to relax the visa requirement so it becomes easier for people to come to live and work in the UK. There will be more details when they become available.
