The 2012 Budget

25th March, 2012, By Stewart Roberts

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.