Budget

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his second Budget on Wednesday 3 March 2021. In his speech he stated his Budget ‘meets the moment with a three-part plan to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people’. Main Budget proposals Tax measures include: a super-deduction for companies investing in new plant and machinery a time extension of the temporary increase to the SDLT nil rate band for residential property in England and Northern Ireland an extension to the temporary 5%…

Coronavirus loan schemes In 2020, the government introduced a number of government-guaranteed coronavirus loan schemes. In December 2020 the Chancellor extended, until the end of March 2021, access to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme, Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. Budget 2021 announced a new loan scheme to be introduced to replace those coming to an end. From 6 April 2021 the Recovery Loan Scheme will provide lenders with a guarantee of 80%…

Capital gains tax (CGT) rates No changes to the current rates of CGT have been announced at Budget 2021. This means that the rate remains at 10%, to the extent that any income tax basic rate band is available, and 20% thereafter. Higher rates of 18% and 28% apply for certain gains; mainly chargeable gains on residential properties with the exception of any element that qualifies for Private Residence Relief. There are two specific types of disposal which potentially qualify…

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (JRS) The current JRS allows an employer to place an employee on furlough and apply for a grant to cover wage costs for the time an employee is on furlough. The employer: can claim 80% of ‘usual salary’ for hours not worked, up to a maximum of £2,500 per employee (pro-rated for hours not worked) per month needs to fund employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) and the minimum employer automatic enrolment pension contributions. In December…

The personal allowance The personal allowance is currently £12,500. Budget 2018 announced that the allowance would remain at the same level until 2020/21 and the statutory provision to increase the allowance annually by CPI was to be overridden. The Chancellor has confirmed that the personal allowance will increase by CPI (0.5%) for 2021/22 to £12,570. There is a reduction in the personal allowance for those with ‘adjusted net income’ over £100,000. The reduction is £1 for every £2 of income…

Land and buildings transaction taxes Land and buildings transaction taxes are devolved to Scotland (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) and Wales (Land Transaction Tax). Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) applies to transactions in England and Northern Ireland. All these taxes have had a temporary increase in the nil rate threshold for residential properties. The thresholds were set to return to the previous thresholds from 1 April 2021. Budget announcement The government will extend the temporary increase to the SDLT nil…