The 2012 Budget

25th March, 2012

The team at Fund My Contractor and TBOS look at the budget and sum it up in this handy bullet point list.

STATUTORY PAYMENTS

  • Statutory Maternity Pay (after the initial 6 weeks) and Statutory Paternity Pay will increase to £135.45 per week with effect from 6 April 2012.
  • Statutory sick pay will increase to £85.85 per week / £17.17 per day with effect from 6 April 2012.

CAPITAL GAINS TAX

  • The rate of capital gains tax will remain at 18% and 28%.
  • The lifetime allowance for Entrepreneur’s Relief, which reduces the capital gains tax paid by taxpayers on qualifying disposals to 10% for certain disposals of business assets, remains at £10 million.
  • The annual exempt amount for capital gains tax will remain at £10,600.

CORPORATION TAX

  • The main rate of corporation tax will be reduced to 24% from 1 April 2012.
  • The main rate will then reduce further to 23% from 1 April 2013 and then again to 22% from 1 April 2014. o The small company rate will remain at 20%.

EMPLOYEES

Approved Mileage Allowance Payments

  • The approved mileage rates for employees using their own cars for business will remain at 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles and 25p per mile thereafter.

Company Cars

  • The car fuel benefit multiplier will be increased from £18,800 to £20,200 from 6 April 2012.
  • The multiplier will then increase by 2% above the rate if inflation in 2013.
  • Legislation will be introduced to increase the appropriate percentages by 1% for all vehicles with CO2 emissions more than 75g/km to a maximum of 35%, but not until 2014/15.
  • From April 2016, the additional 3% supplement for diesel cars will be removed so that diesel cars will be taxed at the same level as petrol cars.
  • In both 2015-16 and 2016-17 that percentages will increase by 2% to a maximum of 37%.

Company Vans

  • The van fuel benefit multiplier will be frozen at £550 for 2012-13.
  • This will then be increased by inflation in 2013-14.

VAT

  • The VAT registration threshold, based on turnover level will increase on 1 April 2012 to £77,000.
  • The VAT deregistration threshold, based on turnover level will increase on 1 April 2012 to £75,000.

INVESTMENTS

  • The ISA limit will increase to £11,280 from 6 April 2012. The cash limit within the overall limit will be £5,640.

INHERITANCE TAX

  • The inheritance tax nil rate band remains at £325,000.

STAMP DUTY

  • Legislation will be introduced in Finance Bill 2012 to charge SDLT at 7% of the chargeable consideration where this tis more than £2 million. The measure takes effect for transactions where the effective date is on or after 22 March 2012.
  • Legislation will also be introduced in Finance Bill 2012 to apply a 15% rate of SDLT to residential properties over £2 million purchased by certain non-natural persons. This will take effect from 21 March 2012.

CHILD BENEFIT

  • Child benefit will be reduced when someone in the household has income of more than £50,000 per annum. Benefit will be reduced by 1% for every £100 earned over £50,000. This will mean that anyone earning over £60,000 will lose the benefit completely.

CIGARETTES, ALCOHOL & FUEL

  • Tax on tobacco will increase by 5% above inflation from 6pm on 21 March 2012 adding 37p to a packet of cigarettes.
  • There was no freeze in the fuel duty, which will rise in line with inflation in August. This will result in an increase of approximately 3p.
  • Alcohol duty rates will increase by 2% above the rate of inflation with effect from 26 March 2012. This will add 3p to the price of a pint of beer, 2p to a liter of cider, 11p to a bottle of wine and 41p to a bottle of spirits.