Autumn Budget 2024: Key Points
On 30th October 2024 the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves delivered Labour’s first Budget in 14 years. The key announcements, and how they affect you, are summarised below.
INDIVIDUALS
Rates of income tax and National Insurance (NI) paid by employees, and of VAT, to remain unchanged
Income tax band thresholds to rise in line with inflation after 2028
Basic rate capital gains tax on profits from selling shares to increase from from 10% to 18%, with the higher rate rising from 20% to 24%
Capital Gains Tax rates on carried interest will be increased from 28% to 32% from April 2025 with further reforms the following year
24% CGT rate on profits from selling additional property unchanged
VAT on private school fees will be introduced from January 2025, with legislation soon to remove their business rates relief from April 2025
The non-dom tax regime will be abolished
Inheritance tax threshold freeze extended by further two years to 2030, with unspent pension pots also subject to the tax from 2027
Minimum wage for over-21s to rise from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour from April
Minimum wage rate for 18 to 20-year-olds to rise from £8.60 to £10.00 per hour from April
Minimum wage for under 18 and apprentice to rise from £6.40 to £7.55 an hour from April
Basic and new state pension payments to go up by 4.1% next year due to the “triple lock”
Eligibility widened for the allowance paid to full-time carers, by increasing the maximum earnings threshold from £151 to £195 a week
HOUSING
Stamp duty surcharge, paid on second home purchases in England and Northern Ireland, to go up from 3% to 5%
Point at which house buyers start paying stamp duty on a main home to drop from £250,000 to £125,000 in April, reversing a previous tax cut
Threshold at which first-time buyers pay the tax will drop back, from £425,000 to £300,000
FUEL
5p cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel brought extended for 1 year
£2 cap on single bus fares in England to rise to £3 from January, outside London and Greater Manchester
Air Passenger Duty to go up in 2026, by £2 for short-haul economy flights and £12 for long-haul ones, with rates for private jets to go up by 50%
Vehicle Excise Duty paid by owners of all but the most efficient new petrol cars to double in their first year, to encourage shift to electric vehicles
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
National Insurance on employers will rise by 1.2% to 15% on salaries above £5,000 from April 2025
The Secondary Threshold, the level at which employers start paying national insurance on each employee’s salary, will be reduced from £9,100 per year to £5,000
Employment Allowance will rise from £5,000 to £10,500
Main rate of corporation tax, paid by businesses on taxable profits over £250,000, to stay at 25% until next election
The government will introduce permanently lower business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses from 2026-27. Until then they will receive 40% relief on business rates up to a cap of £110,000
SMOKING & DRINKING
New flat-rate tax of £2.20 per 10ml of vaping liquid introduced from October 2026
Tax on tobacco to increase by 2% above inflation, and 10% above inflation for hand-rolling tobacco
Tax on non-draught alcoholic drinks to increase by the higher RPI measure of inflation
Draught duty will be reduced by 1.7% to cut a penny off a pint in the pub. Alcohol duty rates on non-draught products will increase in line with RPI from February next year
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