At this time of year we think about New Year’s resolutions. It is also a good time to start planning your tax affairs before the end of the tax year on 5th April.

One of the few changes announced on 23 September that has not been reversed concerns Stamp Duty Land Tax

If you are a director/shareholder, please contact us to discuss the best strategy for extracting profits from your company from 6 April 2023.

For those provided with an electronic or ultra-low emission company car (emitting less than 75g of CO2 per kilometre), there will be annual increases in the benefit-in-kind percentages, and therefore the taxes paid by both employees and employers, from the 2025/26 tax year.

The income level at which point the ‘additional’ 45% rate of income tax starts to apply will be reduced from £150,000 to £125,140* from 6 April 2023.

The new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had warned the public and the financial markets that his Autumn Statement would include “eye-watering” cuts in public spending and tax rises for those with the ‘broadest shoulders’.

The Chancellor has announced that the current £12,300 annual tax-free CGT exemption (or allowance) will be reduced to just £6,000 in 2023/24 and only £3,000 in 2024/25.

Like the main income tax bandings, NIC thresholds are now also frozen until 5 April 2028.

On 23 September 2022, it was announced that the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) nil-rate threshold on residential property would be increased from £125,000 to £250,000.

In his Fiscal Statement delivered on 23 September 2022, the previous Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, introduced a Growth Plan including the tax cuts promised by Liz Truss in her Conservative Party leader campaign.

For dividends, although the associated 1.25 percentage point supplement on NICs is being removed from 6 November, income tax rates on dividends will not be reduced

We are, however, expecting the temporary 130% ‘super-deduction’ for company expenditure on qualifying new equipment to come to an end on 31 March 2023.

The 23 September Fiscal Statement included the unexpected news that the “off-payroll working” (OPW) rules would be scrapped from 6 April 2023.

Another of Liz Truss’ flagship policies was to halt the planned rise in corporation tax rates from 1 April 2023.

These increases will now go ahead. From 1 April 2023, corporation tax will increase to 25% where a company’s profits exceed £250,000 a year

In the original 23 September 2022 statement, it was announced that qualifying start-up companies would be allowed to raise £250,000 under the scheme, an increase over the current £150,000 limit.

The legislation to abolish the 1.25 percentage point increase in the rate of National Insurance Contributions (NICs) paid by workers, employers and the self-employed was already in progress when the U-turns were being made

The previous Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, had dangled a possible cut in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19% from 2024/25. This will now be brought forward by one year to 2023/24 and will apply to non-dividend income.