Of course, the focus of the annual budget for accountants, tax advisers and their clients are the fiscal measures. Despite pre-Budget speculation, there was no alignment of the capital gains tax (CGT) and income tax rates, nor any slashing of the annual exempt amount. In fact, the announcements affecting individuals were relatively minor changes.
The increases to the levels of the personal allowance and basic rate band had already been confirmed, but what was not known previously was that these would be the last increases for five years. The NI upper earnings limit and upper profits limit remain aligned to these for the full five-year period.
Companies on the other hand will see an increase of up to 6% in corporation tax rates, depending on their profit level. However, there will be a two-year delay in implementing this.
A summary of the measures announced at the 2021 Budget on 3 March 2021 follows. This largely does not include any measures that were previously included in the draft legislation published in July and November 2020, unless there have been changes.
