Our latest article outlines the main points made by Jeremy Hunt to MPs when he delivered his Spring Budget 2024, which is expected to be the final Budget before the election.

Spring Budget 2024

Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget 2024 focuses on tax cuts for workers and parents and includes a mix of tax increases elsewhere on business class airfares, owners of short-term holiday lets, tobacco, and vapes. The Budget comes amid pressure to ease the record tax burden and supercharge economic growth.

You can read the Spring Budget 2024 on the government’s website.

Key points at a glance

Taxes

• National Insurance Contributions for employees are being cut from 10% to 8% from April – saving around 27 million workers up to £450 each year.
• Self-employed National Insurance rates will also drop by 2%.
• Higher rate of property capital gains tax will be reduced from 28% to 24%.
• Stamp duty relief for people who purchase more than one dwelling in a single transaction (Multiple Dwellings relief) is abolished.
• The furnished holiday lettings regime has also been abolished because it meant “that there are not enough properties available for long-term rental by local people”.
• A more straightforward, residency-based system will replace the non-domicile tax status in 2025.
• The energy profits levy – the windfall tax on UK-produced oil and gas – is extended to 2029.
• Air passenger duty will be raised for non-economy class plane passengers.

Business support

• The VAT registration threshold for businesses has increased to £90,000.
• Eligible film studios in England will secure 40% relief on their gross business rates until 2034. Tax relief will be permanent at 45% for touring and orchestral productions and 40% for non-touring productions.
• Full expensing for businesses will apply to leased assets, and the draft bill is expected to be published imminently.

Economy

• Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects inflation to dip below the target within months.
• The OBR has announced that debt as a share of GDP—which was expected to exceed 100pc—is now forecast to fall each year until reaching 94.3pc in 2028-29.
• The OBR predicts UK GDP growth of 0.8% in 2024 and 1.9% in 2025.

Benefits

• The household support fund is extended for a further six months.
• Following a consultation, the High Income Child Benefit Charge will move to a household-based system. In the meantime, the threshold will rise to £60,000 from April. The top taper where it is withdrawn will rise to £80,000.
• To help people save, a new British Savings Bond, delivered through NSNI, will offer a guaranteed rate – fixed for three years.
• A new British ISA will allow a £5,000 annual investment into UK companies and includes all the tax advantages of other ISAs on top of the existing allowances.
• The £90 charge to get a debt relief order is abolished.
• Repayment periods for low-income people who take out new budgeting advance loans will increase to 24 months.

Tobacco/vaping and alcohol duty

• A new duty will be introduced on vaping liquids from October 2026. A one-off increase in tobacco duty will be made at the same time.
• The alcohol duty freeze has been extended until February 2025.

Fuel duty

• There is no change to fuel duty as the 5p cut, announced in March, is still in place.

NHS/Health

• The NHS has been granted an additional £2.5bn to tackle issues including waiting lists.
• The planned growth in public sector spending is to be maintained at 1%, and it includes plans to fund NHS productivity and boost digital transformation.

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