The Autumn 2021 Budget took place yesterday with a few interesting surprises, albeit many did not come as a surprise due to the amount of information that had been leaked to the press prior to the Chamber.

The Budget was billed as a Budget for a new age but the speech itself had limited tax content, but it will have a large impact to the everyday person.

Some of the key points to take from the announcement that are likely to impact you have been listed below.

• Basic, higher, and additional rates of tax will remain frozen at 20%, 40% and 45% respectively until April 2026.
• The NIC primary thresholds for employees have been increased by 1.25%.
• The government confirmed that the annual exempt amount for capital gains tax remains frozen.
• National living wage is to increase next year by 6.6% to £9.50 an hour.
• GDP is to grow by 6% next year, 2.1% in 2023, 1.3% in 2024, 1.6% in 2025 and 1.7% in 2026.
• New 50% business rates discount for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors, including pubs, music venues, cinemas, restaurants, hotels, theatres, and gyms.
• £2bn of new funding to help schools and colleges recover from the pandemic
• 4% levy will be placed on property developers with profits over £25m rate to help create a £5bn fund to remove unsafe cladding.

Minimum wage increases from 1 April:

• National Minimum Wage for those aged 21-22: From £8.36 to £9.18
• National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20-year-olds: From £6.56 to £6.83
• National Minimum Wage for under-18s: From £4.62 to £4.81
• National Living Wage for those aged 23 and over: From £8.91 to £9.50 an hour
• The Apprentice Rate: From £4.30 to £4.81

Minimum umbrella rate:

• Sapphire’s minimum umbrella/limited rate of pay based on 40 hours per week will increase by £1.02 per hour, taking into account the additional employment costs associated with the NLW increase.

For more information, you can view our full budget summary here.

If you have any questions about the Autumn Budget 2021 how it may impact your business, please get in touch today to find out how Sapphire can help.