Autumn Budget 2024
Announcements made in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget which affect small businesses include the following:
Small business support and funding
- The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will provide funding of £900 million in 2025/26. This transitional arrangement will provide stability ahead of wider local growth funding reforms.
- The Government will simplify the wider local authority funding landscape, reducing the number of grants and consolidating them into the
Local Government Finance Settlement.
- In 2025, a Small Business Strategy Command Paper will be published, which will set out the Government’s vision for small business support.
- In 2025/26, over £200 million will be provided to Growth Hubs in England and the Help to Grow: Management programme.
- In 2024/25 and 2025/26, over £1 billion will be provided to the British Business Bank to improve access to finance for small businesses. This will include over £250 million each year for Start Up Loans and the Growth Guarantee Scheme.
- The Made Smarter Innovation programme will be extended and funding for the Made Smarter Adoption programme will double to help more small manufacturing businesses adopt advanced digital technologies.
- The Long-Term Plan for Towns will be retained and reformed into a new regeneration programme.
Taxes and wages
- From 6 April 2025, Employer National Insurance contributions will increase from 13.8% to 15%. The threshold at which employers start paying National Insurance will be lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
- The Employment Allowance will increase from £5,000 to £10,500 and the £100,000 threshold will be removed.
- The lower rate of Capital Gains Tax has risen from 10% to 18%, and the higher rate from 20% to 24%.
- Income tax and National Insurance thresholds will be frozen until 2027/28 and will rise with inflation from 2028/29.
- In 2025/26, fuel duty will be frozen.
- The Government will maintain the Corporation Tax Small Profits Rate and marginal relief at their current rate and thresholds.
- The £1 million Annual Investment Allowance will be kept in place to provide the certainty businesses need in order to invest.
- From April 2025, the National Living Wage for people aged 21 or older will rise by 6.7% to £12.21 per hour. The National Minimum Wage for people aged between 18 and 20 will increase by 16.3% to £10 per hour. The hourly rate for apprentices will increase from £6.40 to £7.55.
Business rates
- In 2025/26, the small business multiplier will be frozen in England.
- In England, the 75% discount to business rates which was due to expire in April 2025 will be replaced by a discount of 40%.
- The Government will consult with businesses about creating a fairer business rates system.
- From 2026/27, business rates for retail, hospitality and leisure properties will be lowered to level the playing field for the high street.
Reacting to the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, Shevaun Haviland, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said “While some protection for smaller firms is welcome, the increase in Employer National Insurance contributions will place a further cost burden on business. This, coupled with a 6.7% increase in the National Living Wage, means many firms will find it more challenging to invest and recruit in the short term”.
The Budget is available to view in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-2024