Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng used the 2022 Mini Budget to announce a series of tax cuts for businesses and individuals.
The Chancellor confirmed that the 1.25% rise in national insurance contributions (NICs) that came in this year will be reversed from 6 November, while the Health and Social Care Levy has been cancelled.
The planned rise in corporation tax to 25% will be scrapped and the rate maintained at the current 19%. The basic rate of income tax will be cut to 19p in April 2023, a year ahead of schedule.
Additionally, the level at which homebuyers will start to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland has been doubled from £125,000 to £250,000. First-time homebuyers will pay no SDLT on homes worth up to £425,000, up from the previous price of £300,000.
For businesses, Investment Zones will be established across the UK that benefit from lower taxes and liberalised planning frameworks to encourage business investment.
The cap on bankers’ bonuses, which limited rewards to twice the salary level, will be axed.
The Chancellor also committed to repealing the off-payroll legislation. The IR35 reforms, which rolled into the public and private sectors in 2017 and 2021 respectively, will no longer apply from April 2023 and responsibility for determining employment status where a personal service company is used will return to the worker.
Mr Kwarteng said:
‘Growth is not as high as it needs to be, which has made it harder to pay for public services, requiring taxes to rise. This cycle of stagnation has led to the tax burden being forecast to reach the highest levels since the late 1940s.
‘We are determined to break that cycle. We need a new approach for a new era focused on growth.’
