Autumn Statement 2022 summary

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt announced his financial plan on Thursday when he made his Autumn Statement 2022 speech. The chancellor set out the government’s plan, the main points from which we have summarised below:

• Income Tax and National Insurance contributions thresholds will be fixed at their current rates until April 2028.
• the Income Tax additional rate threshold will be lowered from £150,000 to £125,140 from 6 April 2023.
• the National Insurance contributions secondary threshold will be fixed at £9,100 from April 2023 until April 2028. The Employment Allowance will mean the smallest employers will not be affected
• the Dividend Allowance will be reduced from £2,000 to £1,000 from April 2023, and to £500 from April 2024
• the Capital Gains Tax Annual Exempt Amount will reduce from £12,300 to £6,000 from April 2023 and to £3,000 from April 2024.
• the Inheritance Tax (IHT) nil-rate band and residence nil-rate bands will be fixed at their current rates until April 2028
• the VAT registration and deregistration thresholds will be maintained at the current levels of £85,000 for an additional two years from 1 April 2024
• reforms to R&D tax reliefs – for expenditure on or after 1 April 2023, the Research & Development Expenditure Credit rate will increase from 13% to 20%, the SME additional deduction will decrease from 130% to 86%, and the SME credit rate will decrease from 14.5% to 10%. The government is continuing the review of R&D tax reliefs that was launched at Budget 2021 and will consult on the design of a single scheme
• Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) cuts – on 23 September 2022, the government increased the nil-rate thresholds of SDLT from £125k to £250k for all purchasers of residential property in England and Northern Ireland and increased the nil-rate threshold for first time buyers from £300k to £425k. The cut will remain in place until 31 March 2025. This will be legislated through the SDLT (Reduction) Bill
• Cost of Living Support – additional cost of living payments to support the most vulnerable households, including up to £900 of additional support in 2023-24 for households on means tested benefits, including those receiving tax credits
• changes to the taxation of electric vehicles – from April 2025, electric cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles
• Company Car Tax (CCT) Rates – the government is setting rates for CCT until April 2028 to provide long term certainty for taxpayers and industry in Autumn Finance Bill 2022
• First Year Allowance for electric vehicle charge points – the government will extend the 100% First Year Allowance for electric vehicle charge points to 31 March 2025 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2025 for Income Tax