| Rishi Sunak has made a series of announcements today to help support businesses through the current economic challenges. “The government wants to create the conditions for the private sector to invest more, train more and innovate more. This includes cutting and reforming taxes to support these aims.” Announcing a package of measures and planned reforms, the Chancellor set out how he wanted to encourage investment and innovation: From 6pm this evening, a temporary cut to fuel duty will be cut by 5p per litre, for 12 months. The Employment Allowance will increase from £4,000 to £5,000 from April. The thresholds for paying NI will increase by £3,000 to £12,570, bringing it in line with personal income tax thresholds from April. To improve Adult technical skills he will examine how the tax system – including the operation of the Apprenticeship Levy – can be used to encourage employers to invest in adult training. Through the reform of R&D measures. Further announcements will be made in the autumn. The government will consider: Increasing the generosity of RDEC (research and development expenditure credit) to boost R&D investment in the UK. What more can be done to tackle the abuse of R&D tax reliefs, particularly in the SME scheme, ahead of Budget 2022. A review of R&D tax reliefs To support businesses to invest and grow, the temporary £1 million level of the Annual Investment Allowance has been extended to 31 March 2023. To encourage more capital investment, the Government are reviewing the current regime of capital allowances ahead of the Autumn Budget, including looking at the impact of the super-deduction Introducing Zero VAT on Energy Saving Materials (ESM) such as heat pumps insulation and solar panels Key documents: The full statement is available here Supporting documents can be viewed here |
