Autumn Statement 2023

Summary of the 2023 Autumn Statement

National Insurance will be cut from 12% to 10% from January 2024
Self-employed people with profits above £12,570 will no longer be required to pay Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NICs) but will continue to receive access to contributory benefits and entitlements
The main rate of Class 4 self-employed NICs will be cut from 9% to 8%. This will take effect from 6 April 2024
The Government will freeze the Lower Earnings Limit (LEL) and the Small Profits Threshold (SPT) for NICs at 2023-24 levels in 2024-25
The National Living Wage has been increased to £11.44 per hour from April next year. It will now extend to workers of 21 and 22 years of age. Previously, the National Living Wage only covered those over 23
Individuals with income taxed only through Pay As You Earn will no longer be required to file a Self-Assessment return from 2024-25
The Government is extending the Growth Market Exemption, a relief from Stamp Duty (SD) and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT), to include smaller, innovative growth markets. This will be implemented from 1 January 2024
From 1 April 2024, R&D claimants will no longer be able to nominate a third-party payee for R&D tax credit payments, subject to limited exceptions, and no new assignments of R&D tax credits will be possible from 22 November 2023
Following its review into the impact of Making Tax Digital (MTD) for Income Tax Self-Assessment (ITSA) on small businesses, the Government will maintain the current MTD threshold at £30,000 and introduce design changes to simplify and improve the system. These changes will take effect from April 2026
The Government has said that it will merge the existing Research and Development Expenditure (RDEC) and SME schemes, with expenditure incurred in accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024 to be claimed in the merged scheme. The notional tax rate applied to loss-makers in the merged scheme will be lowered from 25% as per the current RDEC scheme, to 19%
Full expensing will be made permanent, enabling investments made by companies in qualifying plant and machinery, after 1 April 2026, to continue to qualify for a 100% first-year allowance for main rate assets, and a 50% first-year allowance for special rate (including long life) assets
For 2024-25, the business rates small business multiplier in England will be frozen for a fourth consecutive year at 49.9p, while the standard multiplier will be uprated by September CPI to 54.6p