Autumn Budget 2024 – how it affects our clients
After much speculation, the new Government – and the first female chancellor in the UK’s history – have finally delivered their budget. But was it a horror story fit for Halloween or was all the scaremongering premature?
We set out below the key announcements that will be relevant to our clients:
Non-doms
As signalled, domicile will be abolished as a concept for UK tax purposes from 6 April 2025, and the remittance basis along with it.
There will instead be a residence-based regime, whereby new UK residents may claim 100% relief from UK Income Tax or UK Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”) on foreign income and gains (“FIG”), even FIG brought into the UK, for their first four tax years of UK residence. This will only apply for those who have not been UK tax resident in any of the ten consecutive tax years prior to their arrival.
FIG that arose on or before 5 April 2025, while an individual was taxed under the remittance basis, will continue to be taxed when remitted to the UK under current rules.
There will be a sweet treat in the form of the Temporary Repatriation Facility (“TRF”), whereby a former remittance basis user will be able to nominate FIG that arose prior to the changes and pay tax on it at a reduced rate. FIG taxed under the TRF can then be used freely in the UK as and when needed. The TRF will be available for the tax years 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28. The beneficial rates will be 12% for the first two tax years, and 15% for the third and final tax year.
For CGT purposes, remittance basis users will be able to rebase foreign assets personally held on 5 April 2017 and situated outside the UK since 6 March 2024 to their value at 5 April 2017 when making a disposal of such assets on or after 6 April 2025.
In most cases, Overseas Workday Relief will be extended to four years to align with the new FIG regime, subject to a cap on the amount of relief that can be claimed at the lower of £300,000 or 30% of an individual’s qualifying employment income.
Domicile will also be abolished for the purposes of establishing exposure to UK Inheritance Tax (“IHT”).
IHT will now be charged on non-UK assets according to an individual’s residence status at the time of a chargeable event. The test will be whether the individual has been resident in the UK for at least 10 of the preceding 20 tax years (known as a “long-term resident”).
The IHT ‘tail’ , whereby a long-term resident remains exposed to IHT on leaving the UK, will range from three to ten tax years depending upon how long the long-term resident was resident in the UK.
Excluded Property Trusts will now fall within the scope of IHT, depending on the settlor’s UK tax residence status at the time of a chargeable event (and in some cases the status of a primary beneficiary) – particularly unsavoury if the settlor dies as a long-term resident. This could mean ten-year anniversary and exit charges, charges on qualifying interests in possession and charges on the death of the settlor of a settlor-interested trust.
Whilst the new regime contains some concessions, it remains to be seen whether the spectre of the new rules will frighten off wealthy foreign investors as so many have forecast.
CGT
CGT rates have increased as expected, but not to the eerie extent feared. The base rates of CGT have increased on disposals made on or after yesterday’s date (30 October 2024):
- from 10% to 18% for basic rate taxpayers; and
- from 20% to 24% for higher rate taxpayers, trustees and personal representatives.
The CGT rate for disposals of residential property will remain unchanged, at 18% and 24%.
The annual exempt amount will remain at £3,000 for the 2025/2026 tax year.
The reduced rate of CGT that applies for those claiming Business Asset Disposal Relief and Investors’ Relief will increase:
- from 10 to 14% for disposals made on or after 6 April 2025; and
- then to 18% for disposals made on or after 6 April 2026.
The lifetime limit for Investors’ Relief will be reduced from £10 million to £1 million for qualifying disposals made on or after 30 October 2024, bringing it in line with the lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief (which remains unchanged).
CGT on carried interest will increase from 28% to 32% for the 2025/2026 tax year. Thereafter, it will be taxed at a rate equal to the individual’s income tax rate, with a multiplier of 0.725.
IHT
Some of the most ghoulish fears, that the seven-year rule on lifetime gifting might be increased to ten years, or that the tax exemption on transfers between spouses might be eradicated, did not came to pass. Nevertheless, the chancellor delivered some frights for one of the most polarising of British taxes.
Rates and thresholds
While the IHT rate remains at 40%, many will be disappointed that the nil rate band IHT thresholds have been frozen for a further two years, meaning it will remain at £325,000 per person (plus £175,000 for the residence nil rate band) as far as 2030.
Agricultural and business property
From 6 April 2026, significant changes will be made to IHT relief on agricultural and business property.
The current 100% rate of relief on qualifying business and agricultural assets will be capped to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Thereafter, these assets will only be able to benefit from 50% relief, meaning the effective rate of IHT on these assets over £1million will be 20%.
Shares which are not listed on recognised stock exchanges, such as AIM shares, will no longer benefit from 100% relief, instead being subject to IHT at 20%.
Pensions
The other frightener was in regard to pensions, which have been exempt from IHT since April 2015. From 6 April 2027, unused pension funds and death benefits will form part of a person’s estate for IHT purposes. Pension scheme administrators will become liable for reporting and paying the IHT arising on these funds.
Income Tax
There will be no increases in income tax rates but alongside this the income tax and National Insurance thresholds will remain frozen until 2028/2029 (thereafter being uprated in line with inflation).
Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”)
As of 31 October 2024, SDLT payable on second-homes and residential investment properties increased from 3% to 5%, costing a purchaser a further £20,000 in SDLT on a purchase of a £1,000,000 property.
The SDLT rate payable by companies purchasing residential properties worth over £500,000 will also increase from 15% to 17% from 31 October 2024.
VAT on school fees
As expected, VAT will be payable at the standard 20% rate on school fees for terms starting on or after 1 January 2025.
In a further blow to concerned parents who tried to get ahead of this change, fees or boarding services that were pre-paid on or after 29 July 2024 for terms starting from January 2025 will also be retrospectively subject to VAT.
The ‘tax gap’
In an attempt to deal with the terrifying tax gap between what should be paid to HMRC and what they actually receive, various compliance measures have been announced, including a substantial increase to 9.5% in the late payment interest rate charged on unpaid or overdue tax liabilities.
Conclusions
British taxpayers, who were already suffering the highest tax burden for 80 years, will inevitably be haunted as the Revenue sets to gruesomely rake in another £40 billion following the budget changes.
There were some spooky silver linings, with some rumoured changes not emerging and other changes not being as bad as predicted.
Nevertheless, this tax-raising Budget might well have left some feeling like they are cleaning egg off their houses today.
Please get in touch with a member of our team if you would like advice on how the Budget changes affect you.