Interim Budget Statement 2023

The Treasury news story ‘Chancellor backs business and rewards workers to get Britain growing’ provides a summary of
the key points arising, which includes the following measures affecting tax:

• from 1 April 2024, the national living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 an hour, with the age threshold lowered
  from 23 to 21 years old;
• from 1 April 2024, the national minimum wage will be increased to £8.60 an hour for 16–17 year olds and to £6.40 an
  hour for apprentices;
• employee National Insurance contributions (NICs) will be cut from 12% to 10% from 6 January 2024;
• Class 4 NICs will be cut by 1p, from 9% to 8% from 6 April 2024;
• Class 2 NICs will be abolished, with no-one required to pay from 6 April 2024;
• state pension is set to increase by 8.5% in April 2024;
• full expensing of capital expenditure will be made permanent so companies can claim 100% capital allowances on
  qualifying main rate plant and machinery investments;
• a business rates support package worth £4.3bn will be introduced over the next five years, including a rollover of
  75% retail, hospitality and leisure relief and a freeze to the small business multiplier;
• the existing R&D expenditure credit and small and medium enterprise (SME) scheme will be merged from 1 April
  2024;
• the rate at which loss-making companies are taxed within the merged R&D scheme will be reduced from 25% to 19%,
  and the threshold for additional support for R&D intensive loss-making SMEs will be lowered from 40% to 30%;
• the climate change agreement scheme providing for reduced rates of climate change levy will be extended, giving
  energy intensive businesses around £300m of tax relief every year until 2033;
• the investment zones programme and freeport tax reliefs will be extended from five years to 10 years;
• three advanced manufacturing investment zones will be established in Greater Manchester, East Midlands, and West
  Midlands;
• duty on all tobacco to increase by RPI plus 2%, with the rate on hand-rolling tobacco to increase by RPI plus 12%,
  from 22 November 2023; and
• alcohol duty will be frozen until 1 August 2024