Mossbank Financial Planning Ltd

16/03/2023

After presenting a Budget-in-all-but name with the Autumn Statement, the Spring Budget was delivered against the backdrop of a day of widespread industrial action.

The run-up to the event appeared deliberately downplayed, save for a late flurry of leaks highlighting a focus on childcare at one end of the scale and pensions at the other. While acknowledging the Prime Minister’s two objectives of halving inflation and reducing debt, Mr Hunt focused his Spring Budget on the Prime Minister’s third objective – getting the economy going.

In a wide-ranging and longer than usual speech, there were some key headline items:

• The inflation rate is forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility to fall from 10.1% (January 2023) to just 2.9% by the end of 2023.
• The lifetime allowance for pensions will be abolished from April 2024, with the lifetime allowance charge withdrawn from April 2023.
• A new monetary limit for the tax-free pension commencement lump sum will be introduced for 2023/24 of £268,275 (equivalent to 25% of the current standard lifetime allowance).
• The annual allowance for pensions will increase by 50% to £60,000 from 2023/24 and the money purchase annual allowance will rise from £4,000 to £10,000 from 2023/24.
• Companies investing in new plant and machinery in the three years from 1 April 2023 can claim a first-year allowance of up to 100% of expenditure.
• Small and medium-sized enterprises that spend 40% or more of their total expenditure on research and development can claim a tax credit worth £27 for every £100 they spend from April 2023.
• The energy price guarantee is maintained at the current £2,500 level until the end of June 2023.
• Up to 30 hours of free childcare per week will be available to working parents of children from the age of nine months by September 2025. Initially, from April 2024, working parents of two-year-olds will be able to access 15 hours of free childcare per week.
• The scheduled 11p a litre duty increases in petrol and diesel will not go ahead.

As ever the Budget documentation contained a wealth of detail and much to digest, our Budget Summary highlights the key aspects likely to affect you. If you have any questions about what you should do next, please get in touch.

26/02/2023

Long run today was supposed to be 20 miles or so but I just wasn't feeling up to it for some reason.

I decided to enjoy the run and "just do a half marathon", running does strange things to you.

I ran the first ten k using the top tips from FixMyRun and managed to squeeze it in under an hour which was great as I didn't think I'd be able to do that again with this stupid long COVID.

Anyway, it's was a nice run and all to get round that London marathon course.

If you are happy to sponsor my delusional life choices you can sponsor me here https://openwork.enthuse.com/pf/matt-cook

Cheers,

Matt

Check out my run on Strava.

06/12/2022

Latest Financial Newsletter from the Network that provides my compliance. If you have any questions or want any advice about anything in the article please let me know. If you would like a PDF copy then please message me. Cheers, Matt

17/11/2022

This is a good link to changes in the Autumn Statement

Techzone looks at the Autumn Statement 2022 and how it will affect your clients.

18/10/2022

17 October 2022: ‘The Growth Plan’ – a further update

At 6.00 am on Monday 17 October, the Treasury issued a press release announcing that the (new) Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, would making a statement “bringing forward measures from the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan”. The timing of the press release suggested that the Treasury was concerned it had not done enough the previous Friday to calm markets ahead of the end of Bank of England gilt purchase support.

The Chancellor’s statement was in two parts: firstly, a pre-emptive media statement in the morning, then an official statement to the House of Commons in the afternoon. He announced what amounts to a near total unwinding of Kwasi Kwarteng’s ‘fiscal event’ of 23 September.

Measures revoked

• The cut to 19% in the basic rate of tax (outside Scotland) from 2023/24 will not take place. Instead, basic rate will remain at 20% “indefinitely”, meaning that even Rishi Sunak’s 2024/25 scheduled timing has been dropped.

• The off payroll working rules in the public and private sectors (often referred to as IR35) will remain in place, reversing their removal at the start of the next tax year.

• The 1.25 percentage points reduction in dividend tax rates, due from 2023/24, will be scrapped.

• VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors will not be re-introduced.

• There will now be no freeze on alcohol duty for one year from February 2023.

Under review

• The Energy Price Guarantee (EPG), which was due to cap average domestic bills at £2,500 a year for two years from the start of October, will be scaled back to last only until April 2023. In the meantime, the Treasury will design “a new approach that will cost the taxpayer significantly less than planned whilst ensuring enough support for those in need”. Any support for businesses from April 2023 “will be targeted to those most affected”.

Measures retained

• The reduction in national insurance contributions, which reached its third reading in the House of Lords on 17 October, will go ahead.

• The stamp duty land tax cuts that took effect on 23 September will not be reversed.

• The extension of the £1 million annual investment allowance beyond March 2023 remains, as do enhancements to the seed enterprise investment scheme (SEIS) and company share option plans.

Financing

The measures unwound today account for about £11 billion of the extra £45 bn of borrowing by 2026/27 created by the 23 September ‘fiscal event’. The U-turn on abolishing the top 45% rate of tax (outside Scotland) and Friday’s decision to keep the already legislated for corporation tax increases were worth about £21 bn, implying that over 70% of Kwasi Kwarteng’s planned borrowing spree has now disappeared.

Based on recent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the 2026/27 financing black hole that remains after all the unwinding is about £32 bn, although press rumours at the weekend suggested that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) could add another
£10 bn to the IFS’s debt projection.

The Chancellor stated that there will be “more difficult decisions” to come on both tax and spending. Government departments will be asked to find efficiencies within their budgets. In his initial statement Mr Hunt also said, “Some areas of spending will need to be cut.”

Further changes to fiscal policy to put the public finances on a sustainable footing will be announced on 31 October alongside the publication of the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

11/10/2022

28/09/2022

26/05/2022

Very important update for those who pay themselves through a limited company. You don't want to get caught out paying an extra 6% corporation tax.

https://www.moore.co.uk/news-views/march-2022/what-is-the-corporation-tax-increase-from-apri-(1) #:~:text=23%20March%202022&text=A%20small%20profits%20rate%20of,in%20excess%20of%20%C2%A3250%2C000.

The current Corporation tax rate of 19% generally applies to all companies whatever their size. From 1 April 2023, this rate will cease to apply and will be replaced by variable rates ranging from 19% to 25%.

18/12/2015

Recently in New Model Adviser about the benefits of staying small. We are a small company, a family company and plan to stay that way. If you'd like to benefit from what this "small fish" has to offer please feel free to get in contact. Matt

25/11/2015

Handy summary of the Autumn Statement

An at-a-glance summary of the main points of the 2015 Autumn Statement and Comprehensive Spending Review.