Autumn Budget 2017 – as it happened

The economy

An economy that continues to grow
Britain is at the forefront of the technological revolution
Three million new jobs since 2010
Productivity performance continues to disappoint
Inflation to peak at 3% in this quarter
Government debt to peak this year as a proportion of GDP
Growth forecasts revised downward to 1.5% in 2017, 1.4% in 2018 and 1.3% in 2019

Personal taxation

Business taxation

Main R&D tax credit rate up to 12% to stimulate investment in innovation
Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) investment limits doubled for knowledge intensive-companies
The EIS qualifying conditions for low risk companies will be tightened as part of an EIS review
Indexation for corporate chargeable gains to be frozen from 1 January 2018
From April 2019 income tax charges on royalty payments to low-tax jurisdictions
A position paper will be published on the tax challenges of the digital economy
Tax changes will encourage fresh investment in the North Sea oil and gas industry

VAT and excise duties

VAT threshold maintained at £85,000 for the next two years
Vehicle excise duty increased for the most polluting diesel cars
Measures to tackle online VAT fraud
Most excise duty on tobacco to rise by 2% above inflation and most alcohol duties frozen

Other taxes

Further business rate reliefs for small businesses, including small public houses
Local authorities given power to impose 100% council tax premium on empty properties
No Stamp Duty Land Tax on purchases by first time buyers up to £300,000 (applies to first £300,000 on purchases up to £500,000)
Further measures against tax avoidance and evasion
Exploration of the possibility of a tax on single-use plastic items
Tax gap cut by a quarter since 2010

Spending plans

Additional £10 billion over this Parliament for capital investment in the NHS
£44 billion in capital funds, loans and guarantees for the housing market
National productivity investment fund increased by £31 billion
New £2.5 billion fund to unlock investment in emerging UK businesses
£40 million to train maths teachers
Partnership between government and private sector to boost digital skills and address skills gap – focus on offering training to existing workforce
New £1.7 billion ‘transforming cities’ fund
£400 million boost for infrastructure for charging electric cars
More funds for devolved governments
£500 million to be invested in 5G, fibre broadband and artificial intelligence
Funds to local authorities for essential fire safety work

Other

From April 2018, the national living wage will rise by 4.4% from £7.50 per hour to £7.83
Planning reforms for urban land
High quality, high density homes to be built in city centres
The Government plans to review the gap between planning permissions granted and homes built and publish an interim report in time for the Spring Statement
The Government is preparing for every possible outcome of the Brexit negotiations
Seven-day waiting period for universal credit removed
New railcard for those aged 26-30

Budget 2017 Breakfast Briefing