ICAEW’s Tax Faculty covered all the major Spring Budget measures on the day. This includes:

• the cut in national insurance contributions;
• the abolition of furnished holiday lettings;
• the changes to the high income child benefit charge;
• the introduction of new rules to replace the non-dom regime; and
• the consultation on regulation of the tax profession.

A selection of other announcements is included below. 

It is expected that Spring Finance Bill 2024 will be introduced shortly. Tax administration and maintenance day is scheduled for 18 April 2024. It is possible that an update on some measures missing from the Spring Budget will be provided at that point. 

These include consultation outcomes for employee ownership trusts and the taxation of decentralised finance involving the lending and staking of cryptoassets.

For the avoidance of doubt, no changes were announced to income tax thresholds and rates for 2024/25, or to the rates of corporation tax applying from 1 April 2024, at the Spring Budget 2024.

R&D tax reliefs

HMRC will establish an expert advisory panel to support the administration of R&D tax reliefs. The panel will provide insights into R&D occurring across key sectors. It will work with HMRC and review relevant guidance to ensure it remains up to date and provides clarity to claimants. 

The start date for the new merged scheme of R&D tax relief was confirmed prior to the Spring Budget 2024. The new regime will apply with effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 April 2024. 

Energy profits levy (EPL)

The end date for the EPL will be extended to 31 March 2029. However, the government will introduce legislation to provide for the energy security investment mechanism (ESIM). The ESIM will ensure that the EPL is no longer charged if prices return to historically normal levels.

Reserved investor funds (RIFs)

A RIF is a new type of investment fund for professional and institutional investors. Legislation will be introduced to define what a RIF is and to provide a power to make detailed tax rules through secondary legislation. 

Individual savings accounts (ISAs)

The government will consult on the introduction of a new UK ISA with an allowance of £5,000 a year in addition to the existing ISA allowance. No start date has been given.

Gift aid 

The government will amend existing legislation so charities can continue to claim gift aid while complying with new protections for consumers introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition, and Consumers Bill. The government’s intention is that the amendments will be in place by the time the relevant provisions of the Bill come into force.

Non-compliance in the umbrella company market

The government will provide an update on the recent consultation on the umbrella company market on Tax Administration and Maintenance Day (18 April 2024). In summer 2024, the government will publish new guidance to support workers and other businesses who use umbrella companies.

Payment of IHT before probate or confirmation

From 1 April 2024, personal representatives of estates will no longer need to seek commercial loans to pay inheritance tax before applying to obtain a “grant on credit” from HMRC. 

Payment of income tax in instalments

The government has announced that HMRC will improve and simplify digital services that support payment of income tax self assessment liabilities in instalments. The changes, to both budget payment plans and payment plans made after the due date, will be implemented from September 2025.

Investment in HMRC’s debt management capacity

The government is investing £140m in HMRC’s capacity to collect tax debts by making more use of debt collection agencies. These measures are forecast to raise £4.3bn of tax revenue by 2028/29. The level of HMRC debt at December 2023 was £45.7bn, up from £45.5bn at September 2023. Despite this increase, the amount of debt in time to pay arrangements has fallen from £7.8bn to £6.6bn. The number of taxpayers with arrangements has dropped from 888,863 to 808,025.

Suite of simplification metrics 

Metrics to measure progress against tax simplification will be drawn from HMRC’s annual customer survey. They will include HMRC’s estimate of the net change in cost to businesses of meeting tax obligations from tax measures.

Further information from gov.uk

• Spring Budget 2024
• Overview of tax legislation and rates