Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget 2018 was announced yesterday, but what impact will it have on small businesses and startups?
We’ve tried to make sense of it so you don’t have to. Here are the announcements that matter to you:
- Corporation tax remains at 19% and will fall to 17% in 2020
- The VAT threshold will be maintained at the current level of £85,000 until April 2022
- Business rates will be cut by one-third for businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000 for two years from April 2019
- From April 2020, access to Employment Allowance will be restricted to employers with an employer National Insurance contributions bill below £100,000 in their previous tax year
- The Employment Allowance will provide businesses and charities with up to £3,000 off their employer National Insurance contributions bill
- Over 99% of micro-businesses and 93% of small businesses will still be eligible for the Employment Allowance
- The New Enterprise Allowance will continue from April 2019 onwards, providing support and mentoring for benefit claimants who are looking to start or develop their business
- Funding of the British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans Programme, for which Virgin StartUp is a deliver partner, will be extended to 2021.
- The contribution to the apprenticeship levy for smaller firms will be reduced from 10% to 5% in a £695m package to support apprenticeships
- The minimum qualifying period for entrepreneurs relief will be extended from 12 months to 2 years
- UK digital services tax will be introduced. This will “narrowly target” UK generated revenues of specific firms, rather than UK tech startups
- Minimum wage will rise by 4.9% from £7.83 to £8.21
- A new tax will be implemented on the manufacture and import of plastic packaging that contains less than 30% of recycled plastic.