Skip navigation

What tax changes were announced in the Autumn Statement?

Written by: Joe Lynch, Managing Director, Your Sidekick
3 min read

Joe Lynch, the Managing Director of Sidekick, offers an overview of the tax changes the Chancellor announced in the Autumn Statement.

sincerely-media-xJlc Ke3oNI-unsplash

After a number of tax changes and U-turns earlier this year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, was expected to announce even more in his first Autumn Statement – which he did. We’ve rounded up all the changes that could impact your small business.   

What are the headline changes?

The Chancellor announced changes to tax and spending that will have an impact on small businesses. For starters, Income Tax, Higher rate threshold, Main National Insurance thresholds and Inheritance Tax thresholds are frozen for a further two years until April 2028.

The government’s own forecasts are that 70% of actively trading limited companies will not see an increase in Corporation Tax next year due to the small profits rate being aligned to where it currently is. 

It also indicates 40% of employers will not be affected by decisions on the threshold for Employers' National Insurance, with the aim being for larger employers to pay more. This should be positive for smaller businesses overall.

Other changes include:

  • National Living Wage for people over 23 to rise to £10.42 from April 2023 – this is an annual pay rise worth over £1600 to a full-time worker

  • National Insurance (NI) Secondary Threshold for Employers to remain at £9,100 until April 2028

  • VAT threshold to remain as it is until April 2024

  • Income Tax, higher rate threshold, main NI thresholds and Inheritance Tax thresholds are frozen for a further two years until April 2028

  • Employers' National Insurance Contributions threshold is frozen until April 2028 and Employers' Allowance at £5,000 until March 2026

  • The dividend allowance will be cut from £2,000 to £1,000 for April 2023 and then to £500 from April 2024

  • The annual exemption amount for Capital Gains tax will be cut from £12,300 to £6,000 next year and then again to £3,000 from April 2024

  • Reduced threshold for 45p tax rate from £150,000 to £125,140

  • From April 2025, Electric Vehicles will no longer be exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty

  • Freeze on Business rates for many next year – an estimated two-thirds of properties will not see an increase

  • R&D reliefs to be reformed, ongoing review by the government to reduce fraud and error

  • SME’s deduction rate was cut to 86% and credit rate to 10% but the increase on the rate of separate R&D expenditure credit was from 13% to 20%

But that wasn’t all the Chancellor announced. The Energy Bill aid for households will be extended for another year, but the average annual bill will increase from £2,500 to £3,000. This means there will be around £500 in additional support for households.

There will also be additional cost of living payments next year of £900 to those on means-tested benefits, £300 to pensioner households and £150 for those individuals on disability benefits. Over 600,000 more people on Universal Credit will be forced to meet with work coaches with the aim of getting more people into the workforce with better-paid jobs.

As Britain slides into recession, the cuts to public services and increase in taxation were to be expected but seeing as though a lot of the changes announced today are loaded towards the future, it may well be that following the next election some of these measures could still change significantly.


You can find out more about Sidekick here or connect on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn


Disclaimer: The content of this blog is based on our understanding of the topic at the time of publication and should not be taken as professional advice. Any of the information may be subject to change. You are responsible for complying with tax law and if in doubt, should seek independent advice.

Sound good? Apply now

Mettle is free and easy to open. Available on iOS and Android.

mettle wallpaper communication
Joe Lynch
Managing Director
linkedIn logo

I've always had the personal drive to succeed and in a roundabout way, (if you want the history then we’ll arrange a drink) this led me to taking the step out on my own and resulted in me becoming a Founder/Director of Sidekick and Umbrellaphant (as it stands) and pushing a business forward from scratch. The aim of both are to deliver better than what is already out there with a special focus on client care, ensuring with either product compliance is central and clients are aware of what we are doing and why we are doing it (let’s cut out the unnecessary jargon, it’s outdated and isn’t big, clever or helpful).

You might also like

What is Companies House?
What is IR35 and is it changing?
How to get tax ready as a construction contractor or subcontractor