Chancellor Rachel Reeves has delivered the Government's long-awaited Autumn Budget Statement. In it were a number of measures impacting UK businesses, including an increase in the minimum wage for 18-20 year-olds to £10.85 per hour and the living wage to £12.71.
The statement also included:
- a reduction in the writing down capital allowance main rate for corporation tax
- a 2% increase to the basic and higher rates of tax on dividends from April 2026 (the additional rate of tax on dividends remains unchanged)
- salary sacrifice pension contributions above £2,000 to be subject to both employer and employee National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 2029
Government also announced administrative amendments to the Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit (AVEC) legislation, including clarification of the Corporation Tax treatment of payments made between group companies in return for one company surrendering AVEC to the other company. This change also affects the Research & Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC). More details are available here and we will update members further next week once the explanatory notes are published alongside the rest of the Finance Bill.
You can find the full budget document and a range of other resources related to it on the GOV.UK website for more information.