Summary of the Autumn Statement 2014|uk|ireland

3 minute read time.

The Chancellor gave his Autumn Statement yesterday. We've summarised the most important changes for small businesses below, some of which were previously announced in the Budget earlier this year.

The Personal Allowance is to increase to £10,600 from April 2015, this is an increase of £100 from the figure announced in Budget 2014 and will also mean the emergency tax code will be 1060L
The Basic Rate (20%) limit is £31,785 from April 2015
The Higher Rate (40%) threshold is increased to £42,385 from April 2015

Employer NICs (up to the UEL) for apprentices aged under 25 will be abolished from April 2016
The Employment Allowance scheme will be extended to care and support workers from April 2015
The thresholds for 2015/16 are:

LEL 112 per week

Primary Threshold 155 per week

Secondary Threshold 156 per week

Upper Earnings Limit 815 per week

Upper Secondary Threshold for under 21s 815 per week

Following the Smith Commission Report, confirmation that announcements on the detail and timetable for enhanced devolution to the Scottish Parliament will be made by end of January 2015.
A process to reach a cross-party agreement on Welsh devolution by March 2015 has been announced. This may lead to further Welsh devolution
HMRC and HM Treasury have concluded that Corporation Tax could be devolved in Northen Ireland provided that the Northern Ireland Executive is able to manage the financial implications

The rate of the SME scheme will be increased to 230% from 01/04/2015
Qualifying expenditure rules will be amended to restrict the cost of materials incorporated in product that are sold

The doubling of the Small Business Rate Relief is extended to April 2016
The 2% cap on the RPI increase in the business rates multiplier is extended to April 2016
The £1000 business rates discount for shops/pubs/cafes/restaurants with a rateable value of £50,000 or less will increase to £1,500 from April 2015
A review of the structure of business rates is to take place and report by Budget 2016

The recommendations made by the Office of Tax Simplification to reduce the burden on business have been accepted and will be implemented. The main change is the removal of the P9D £8,500 exemption from April 2016, although this will be retained for care workers.
Introduction of a statutory framework for voluntary payroll of benefits, ie, if you do payroll your employee benefits than you must follow a defined framework, rather than the ad-hoc process today.
From April 2015 local councillors will be exempt from tax and employee NICs on travel expenses based on the Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rates

The ISA allowance will rise to £15,240 from April 2015
The ISA tax advantages will transfer to the spouse or civil partner upon death, from December 2014

Children under 12 will be exempt on economy tickets from May 2015, and will extend to under 16 from March 2016

The system will change immediatley so that rates apply to the portion of the purchase price in each band

The Government is intending to implement the OECD model for country-by-country reporting for multi-national companies
A new Diverted Profits Tax will be introduced from April 2015, at a rate of 25%, to counter the use of aggressive tax planning to avoid paying tax in the UK
Tax relief will no longer be available on reimbursed business expenses when they are paid in conjunction with a salary sacrifice scheme.
A review of 'umbrella company' arrangements is to take place with regards to tax relief that would not normally be available to ordinary workers
The remittance charge for NonDoms who have been resident in 12 of the past 14 years will be increased from £50,000 to £60,000 and a new charge of £90,000 for those who have been resident for 17 of the past 20 years
The tax advantage offered to additional and higher rate taxpayers by special share schemes will be removed by treating the amount received in the same way as dividend income.