A QUICK SUMMARY OF MEASURES IN OCTOBER 2024 BUDGET
This is not a full summary of the budget, just a few bullet points which may be of interest to CRLA members.
Stamp duty:
- 2% increase to 5% on second homes and investment properties – from 31 October 2024
National insurance
- Employers’ contributions by 1.2 percentage points to 15% from April 2025
- The secondary threshold when contributions are due to be reduced from £9,100 to £5,000.
Income tax
- Personal tax thresholds on income tax and national insurance to increase in line with inflation from 2028-29
Capital gains tax
- The lower rate will be raised from 10% to 18%,
- The higher rate will rise from 20% to 24%.
- No increase on the 24% capital gains rate imposed on second properties.
Inheritance tax
- Freeze on the threshold for inheritance tax to remain, allowing £325,000 to be inherited tax free
- Farms throughout the UK will be subject to Inheritance Tax where they exceed £1 million in agricultural value
Minimum wage
- For over-21s, to increase by 6.7% to £12.21, equivalent to £1,400 a year for an eligible full-time worker.
- A single adult rate to be phased in over time to eventually equalise pay for under-21s.
Local Housing Allowance
- LHA Rates frozen at current levels
Benefits Cap
- Benefit Cap frozen at current level
Tobacco
- Taxes will rise by 2% above retail prices index (RPI) measure of inflation for the rest of this parliament,
- Tax on hand-rolling tobacco to increase by 10%.
Vapes
- A levy to be implemented, to be increased in line with tobacco.
Alcohol
- Taxes to rise in line with the RPI.
- Except for a cut in draught duty by 1.7%,
Fuel duty
- Freeze to be extended for a year
- 5p cut introduced in March 2022 to be maintained
Private school fees
- To be subject to vat from January 2025
Housing
- The government will:
- Spend £5bn on housing, including increasing the supply of affordable housing.
- Reduce right-to-buy discounts, and local governments will retain the earnings from council housing sales to allow them to reinvest.
- Hire “hundreds of new planning officers” to accelerate housebuilding.
- Give £1bn to extend Household Support Fund and Discretionary Housing Payments
Business taxes
- Lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses to be introduced from 2026-27.
- Until then 40% relief on business rates up to a cap of £110,000.
- Employment allowance will be increased from £5000 to £10,500, reducing national insurance for smaller businesses.
- Taxes on carried interest, generally paid by private equity managers, will rise from 28% to 32% from april.
- Oil profits levy will be increased to 38%, and extended.
- The concept of non-domicile residents will be abolished from April 2025