The key measures in Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget announced for England (national variations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland may apply)Wages, pensions and personal taxation
- The Pensions Lifetime Allowance charge will be removed from April 2023, before the Allowance is abolished entirely in April 2024. The change means you will now be able to hold an unlimited amount within a pension without penalty
- The Pensions Annual Allowance – how much you can contribute to a pension without penalty – will be raised from £40,000 to £60,000 from April 2023
- The Money Purchase Annual Allowance – how much you can contribute to a pension without penalty after you have already begun to access it – will be raised from £4,000 to £10,000 in April 2023
- The Fuel Duty freeze continues, including the effects of last year’s 5p/litre reduction in duty
- A new “Brexit Pubs Guarantee” will ensure that duty on draught drinks will be up to 11p lower than that charged in supermarkets from 1 August
- Tobacco duty will rise by Retail Price Inflation (RPI) plus 2% from 6pm today (RPI plus 6% for hand-rolling tobacco)
Energy
- The government’s Energy Price Guarantee will be held at the current level of £2,500 for a typical household next quarter, rather than rising to £3,000 as previously planned
Other public policy
- 30 hours of free childcare for the working parents of all children over nine months old to be gradually introduced, starting in April 2024
- ‘Full expensing’ of capital investment in place for businesses for three years from April 2023, allowing the full cost of investment in IT, plant and machinery to be set against taxable profits
- Skills, infrastructure and tax benefits for twelve new ‘Investment Zones’ spread across the UK
