Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his 2024 Spring Budget speech yesterday, outlining a range of financial measures.

Mr Hunt outlined a 'Budget for long-term growth', which delivered an employee national insurance tax cut from 10% to 8% in April; an increase in the High Income Child Benefit Charge threshold from £50,000 to £60,000; and the abolition of the non-dom tax regime from April 2025.

The Chancellor also announced that, from 6 April 2025, the government will abolish the Furnished Holiday Lettings tax regime. This will stop the tax advantage owners of holiday lets have over those who let properties long-term to tenants.

Further details regarding the announcements made by the Chancellor featured in the official press releases. Our comprehensive Budget Summary outlines the key measures, including some of the less-publicised changes that may impact upon your business or personal finances.

For a detailed overview of the 2024 Spring Budget information, please read our 2024 Spring Budget Summary.

The Chancellor made further changes to NICs following the cuts made in the Autumn Statement 2023. The rates for NICs will be cut by two percentage points for both employees and the self-employed from 6 April 2024. 

This will see Class 1 employee NICs reduced from 10% to 8% from 6 April 2024, down from 12% at the end of last year. Meanwhile, Class 4 self-employed NICs are cut from 9% to 6% from 6 April 2024.

Mr Hunt made a number of other changes that will relieve the tax burden on businesses, families and motorists. He cut the higher rate of capital gains tax on residential property disposals from 28% to 24%. The lower rate will remain at 18% for any gains that fall within an individual's basic rate band.

The threshold for VAT registration will be lifted from £85,000 to £90,000 from 1 April 2024. According to the government, this will mean 28,000 businesses will no longer be VAT registered in 2024/25.

Fuel duty will remain at its current rate and be frozen for 2024/25. Alcohol duty is also frozen for 2024/25.

The Budget saw the creation of a new ISA that will allow people to invest in UK-focused assets. The new UK ISA creates an allowance of £5,000. This will be in addition to the £20,000 that can be subscribed into an ISA. The government will consult on the details.

The Chancellor made his cut to NICs possible with a series of tax raising measures. These include the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lettings regime and Multiple Dwellings Relief, alongside a new duty on vaping and an increase in tobacco duty.

In addition, the Chancellor announced a one-off adjustment on Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates for non-economy passengers.

The government is also extending the Energy Profits Levy, also known as the windfall tax on oil and gas companies, by an additional year to March 2029 as gas prices are forecast to remain 'abnormally high' until that time.

The UK's tax rules for non-UK domiciled individuals will be replaced with a residence-based regime that Mr Hunt says will raise £2.7 billion in revenue.

This new regime will commence on 6 April 2025 and applies UK-wide. Individuals who opt in to the new regime will be exempt from UK tax on foreign income and gains for their first four years of residence in the UK, while the government will make transitional arrangements for existing non-doms.

Business groups have reacted to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Spring Budget speech.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the Chancellor 'had to perform a tricky high wire balancing act of giving momentum to the economy without sacrificing hard-earned progress on bringing down inflation'.

Rain Newton-Smith, Chief Executive of the CBI, commented: 'The reduction in high marginal tax rates for working parents, alongside cutting national insurance contributions (NICs), offers a broad set of measures that will incentivise work at a time when access to labour represents a major obstacle to business growth.'

Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said that whilst the Budget 'boosts jobs', an 'economic challenge remains'. Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the BCC, stated: 'Following the Autumn Statement this Budget was always set to deliver less for business, although changes to national insurance will provide some momentum.

'However, beyond this there were no major announcements to help shift the dial on conditions for business. Business confidence is improving but the coming months will remain challenging for many companies. It is vital that the economy remains front and centre of the campaign to come.'

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) stated that it was 'pleased to see a package of small business support in the Budget'. Tina McKenzie, Policy Chair at the FSB, said: 'We welcome [the] increase in the VAT threshold as well as the cut to self-employed NICs.

'Elsewhere, we were pleased to see a package of small business support in the Budget documents, including commitments to make progress on the HMRC administrative burden and on the national roll-out of the Business Energy Advice Service, as well as extending the Recovery Loan Scheme under a new name – the Growth Guarantee Scheme. Small firms are crucial for economic growth, and we were glad the Chancellor has said that clearly from the despatch box.'

The Institute of Directors (IoD) branded the Spring Budget 'unremarkable' for businesses. Roger Barker, Director of Policy at the IoD, said: 'First and foremost, business was hoping for a Budget that would maintain a stable and credible policy framework for business. The Chancellor largely delivered that. However, beyond that, there was little in the announcements that can be regarded as a game-changer for business.'

Addressing the House of Commons, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt used the 2024 Spring Budget to announce a 'Budget for long-term growth', announcing an employee national insurance tax cut from 10% to 8% in April; an increase to the High Income Child Benefit Charge from £50,000 to £60,000; and the abolition of the non-dom tax regime, which will be replaced with a fairer system from April 2025.

Responding to the Chancellor's speech, Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer said that the UK's 'national credit card is maxed out'. Commenting on the government's Budget measures, he continued: 'They lost control of the economy, they sent interest rates through the roof.

'They made working people pay. They should be under no illusion – that record is how the British people will judge [the Budget] cuts. They know the thresholds are still frozen, dragging more and more people into higher taxes.'

Meanwhile, Carla Denyer, Co-Leader of the Green Party, said: 'We needed a Budget that released the money available from a Wealth Tax to invest in the green jobs of the future, to cut NHS queues and restore nature and the places we live and work.

'We needed a Budget that introduced a Wealth Tax, and reformed capital gains tax and national insurance to raise over £50 billion per year. That would have provided the vital public investment our country is crying out for.' 

Within his Spring Budget speech, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that the UK economy is set to grow 'slightly faster than expected'.

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the government's official forecaster, the economy will grow by 0.8% this year and by 1.9% in 2025.

The Chancellor stated that the economy is 'turning a corner', with inflation expected to fall to target next quarter, wages consistently rising faster than prices and better growth than other European countries.

Higher growth gave the Chancellor extra leeway in the Budget, which he used to announce a continuation of the freeze on alcohol and fuel duties; an employee national insurance tax cut from 10% to 8% in April for 27 million working people; and an increase to the High Income Child Benefit Charge from £50,000 to £60,000.

In its latest forecast, which was prepared for the Budget, the OBR said that borrowing will rise in the next financial year, and then remain broadly in line with its previous forecasts.

However, the OBR also warned that the UK's debt will rise over the coming four years before falling in the fifth year. Debt as a proportion of GDP will still be 92.9% in 2028/29, the OBR also forecasted.

The government stated that the measures announced in the 2024 Spring Budget 'will reduce inflation in 2024/25 and bring the equivalent of over 100,000 people into the workforce by 2028/29'. 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will present the 2024 Spring Budget today. We will keep you up to date on the key Spring Budget announcements and supply a summary, which will appear on our website.

According to reports, the Chancellor is considering two main cuts: a reduction in national insurance (NI) and an extension to the cut in fuel duty. He is also expected to announce a 'vaping products levy', which would be charged on manufacturers and importers of the liquid in vapes.

The Chancellor said: 'We do want to move to a lower taxed economy, but we're only going to do so in a way that is responsible and recognises that there are things that taxes pay for, that we couldn't cut taxes by borrowing.

'We'll do so in a responsible way. But if we can spend money on public services more efficiently, then that will mean less pressure on taxpayers.'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak claimed that the UK economy is 'on the right track', despite data recently showing that the UK fell into recession at the end of last year. He commented: 'I'm determined, as Prime Minister, to make sure that the UK is the best place in the world to invest and grow a business.'

However, borrowing costs have risen sharply and Mr Hunt recently admitted that forecasts on what 'headroom' the government has have 'gone against' him.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could raise revenue on Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the Spring Budget, reports suggest.

Reports have hinted that the Chancellor is considering a range of options that would permit him to make billions of pounds of personal tax cuts. One of these options is to increase APD for business travel, which would mean a rise in business class air fares.

Mr Hunt is also said to be considering a tax on vapes and abolishing the non-dom tax status.

Commenting on the upcoming Budget, Mr Hunt stated: 'It is going to be a prudent and responsible Budget for long-term growth.

'When it comes to tax cuts, I do believe that if you look around the world, countries with lower tax tend to grow faster - North America, Asia - and so I do think in the long run we need to move back to being a lower taxed, more lightly regulated economy.

'It would be deeply unconservative to cut taxes in a way that increased borrowing, wasn't fully funded.'

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is reportedly considering scrapping the non-dom tax status in the upcoming Spring Budget.

According to reports, the Chancellor is exploring a range of options designed to reduce spending or increase the amounts held in government coffers to then be able to afford personal tax cuts.

Research carried out by Warwick University and the London School of Economics (LSE) found that scrapping the non-dom tax status could generate £3.6 billion. According to HMRC statistics, as of 2022 there were 68,800 non-dom taxpayers in the UK.

Reports suggest the Chancellor has not yet committed to removing the non-dom tax status, and is awaiting additional information from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in regard to the issue.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously stated that abolishing the non-dom tax break in full would raise at least £3 billion per year. 

HMRC's tough approach to enforcing the IR35 rules is having a 'chilling effect' on legitimate economic activity, warns the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed (IPSE).

IPSE's warning comes after the tax authority was criticised by in a report by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

The report warns that HMRC's customer service levels have reached an 'all-time low'.

It also scrutinised issues around the IR35 rules on off-payroll working.

The PAC says it is concerned that HMRC's 'tough approach to tackling IR35 is deterring legitimate economic activity' and 'unnecessarily putting companies off using contractors'.

IPSE's Director of Policy, Andy Chamberlain, said: 'The PAC is absolutely right to highlight the chilling effect of IR35 on legitimate economic activity.

'HMRC has hounded individuals through the courts for years, often only to be proved wrong. This is making clients extremely reluctant to engage the freelance talent they need to deliver projects.

'If we really want to see a return to growth and engender a culture of economic confidence, we must harness the benefits of our flexible labour market, rather than stifling it with the unworkable off-payroll rules.'

Reports have suggested that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is considering cutting national insurance in the Spring Budget on Wednesday 6 March.

According to economists, the Chancellor is seeking to make 'smart tax cuts' aimed at boosting the UK economy.

According to the BBC, Mr Hunt is considering slashing national insurance in the Budget on Wednesday, rather than income tax.

During the 2023 Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced a significant cut in national insurance which saw the main rate reduced from 12% to 10%. The BBC stated that an additional cut to national insurance of just 1% would cost £4.5 billion per year.

However, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that tax cuts should be implemented at a later date. Carl Emmerson, Deputy Director at the IFS, said: 'We don't think we should be implementing certain tax cuts now, essentially that are paid for by uncertain spending cuts that might never be delivered.

'There's lots of problems in our tax system - we need genuine tax reform - and if we want growth-friendly tax cuts we should be looking at stamp duty on purchases of properties and stamp duty on purchases of shares.'