Budget 2021

The Main Points:

Financial Support

  • The Furlough scheme will be extended until the end of September
  • Government to continue paying 80% of employees' wages for hours they cannot work
  • Employers to be asked to contribute 10% in July and 20% in August and September
  • Support for the self-employed also to be extended until September
  • 600,000 more self-employed people will be eligible for help as access to grants is widened
  • £20 uplift in Universal Credit worth £1,000 a year to be extended for another six months
  • Working Tax Credit claimants will get £500 one-off payment
  • Minimum wage to increase to £8.91 an hour from April

Taxation

  • No changes to rates of income tax, national insurance or VAT
  • Personal income tax allowance to be frozen at £12,570 from April 2022 to 2026
  • Higher rate income tax threshold to be frozen at £50,270 from 2022 to 2026
  • Corporation tax on company profits to rise from 19% to 25% in April 2023
  • Rate to be kept at 19% for about 1.5 million smaller companies with profits of less than £50,000
  • Stamp duty holiday on house purchases in England and Northern Ireland extended to June, with no tax liability on sales of less than £500,000
  • No changes to inheritance tax or lifetime pension allowance or capital gains tax allowances

Business and Finance

  • Tax breaks for firms to "unlock" £20bn worth of business investment
  • Firms will be able "deduct" investment costs from tax bills, reducing taxable profits by 130%
  • Incentive grants for apprenticeships to rise to £3,000 and £126m for traineeships
  • VAT rate for hospitality firms to be maintained at reduced 5% rate until September
  • Interim 12.5% rate to apply for the following six months
  • Business rates holiday for firms in England to continue until June with 75% discount after that
  • £5bn in Restart grants for shops and other businesses forced to close
  • £6,000 per premises for non-essential outlets due to re-open in April and £18,000 for gyms, personal care providers and other hospitality and leisure businesses
  • New visa scheme to help start-ups and rapidly growing tech firms source talent from overseas
  • Contactless payment limit will rise to £100
  • Business rates holiday extended to June

Full details for the 2021 Budget can be found via this link to the HM Treasury:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-treasury