Budget Highlights 2023

The Chancellor presented his Spring Budget on the 15th of March 2023 and we’re here to discuss some of the highlights.

The OBR expects inflation to fall from 10.7% to 2.9% by the end of 2023.
UK economy will shrink by 0.2% this year and grow by 1.8% in 2024 and 2.5% in 2025, according to Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts
From the 1^st of August the duty on draught products in pubs will be up to 11p lower than the duty in supermarkets
Hunt confirms the Energy Price Guarantee will remain at £2,500 for the typical household for the next three months.
Fuel duty will be frozen and a 5p reduction will be maintained for a further year.

Corporation tax for businesses is to increase from 19% to 25% in April as previously announced, firms which make a profit of more than £250,000 will pay 25% tax on their profits from April. According to statistics less than 10% of companies will pay the top rate.
A new “full expensing” bill, which for the next three years, with an intention to make it permanent, means that for every single pound a company invests in IT equipment, plant or machinery can be deducted in full and immediately from taxable profits.
Smaller businesses increased Annual Investment Allowance to £1m
Small or medium-sized businesses will be able to claim a credit worth £27 for every £100 they spend if they spend 40% or more of their total expenditure on Research and Development.

The Qualifying Care Relief threshold has been doubled to £18,140 which will mean a tax cut for a qualifying carer averaging £450 a year
The pensions annual tax-free allowance has been increased from £40,000 to £60,000 and the Lifetime Allowance – the amount you can pay into your pension before facing a tax charge – previously set at £1.07m will be abolished.
Support to be given to 50 plus workers who are looking to return to work after a break – using a newly introduced apprenticeship scheme.

Incentives to be introduced for new childminders into the industry and further incentives to support parents with additional funded sessions at nurseries, these sessions to cover babies from 9 months.
- - This will be a phased scheme with the full access to funded sessions being available to all qualifying parents/ children by September 2025.
For older children the ambition is that all schools will start to offer a wraparound offer, either on their own or in partnership with other schools, by September 2026.