Income tax

The personal allowance will remain at £12,570 for an extra two tax years until 5 April 2028 and the higher rate threshold will stay at £50,270, the levels that first took effect in 2021/22.

From 2023/24, the 45% additional rate threshold will be reduced from £150,000 (the level set in 2010/11) to £125,140. In Scotland, the higher and top (additional) rate thresholds for non-savings, non-dividend income will be announced in the Scottish Budget on 15 December.

The blind person’s allowance will be increased to £2,870 for 2023/24.

Dividend tax

The dividend allowance will be halved to £1,000 for 2023/24 and halved again in 2024/25 to £500.

National insurance contributions (NICs)

The class 1 primary threshold and class 2 lower profits limit will remain aligned with the personal allowance (£12,570) until April 2028.

The upper earnings limit and class 4 upper profits limit will remain aligned to the higher rate threshold at £50,270 through to April 2028. The lower earnings limit (£6,396) and the small profits threshold (£6,725) will remain unchanged in 2023/24.

For 2023/24, the class 2 rate will be £3.45 a week and the voluntary class 3 rate will be £17.45 a week.

Capital gains tax

In 2023/24, the annual exempt amount for individuals and personal representatives will be reduced to £6,000 and then halved to £3,000 in 2024/25. The annual exempt amount for most trusts will be cut to £3,000 (minimum £600) in 2023/24 and then halved in the following year.

Inheritance tax

The nil rate band for 2026/27 to 2027/28 will remain at £325,000, which was the level first set for 2009/10. The residence nil rate band (RNRB) will likewise stay at £175,000 and the RNRB taper will continue to apply where the value of the deceased’s estate is greater than £2 million.

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT)

The SDLT cuts affecting residential property in England and Northern Ireland, which were introduced in the ‘mini-Budget’ on 23 September 2022, will be reversed from 1 April 2025.

Enveloped dwellings (ATED)

The annual chargeable amounts for the ATED will be increased by 10.1% for 2023/24.

Company cars and vans

The benefit-in-kind (BIK) appropriate percentages for electric and ultra-low emission cars will increase by one percentage point each year from 2025/26 to 2027/28 up to a maximum appropriate percentage of 5% for electric cars and 21% for ultra-low emission cars.

The BIK rates for all other vehicle bands will be increased by one percentage point for 2025/26 up to a maximum appropriate percentage of 37% and will then be fixed in 2026/27 and 2027/28.

For 2023/24 car and van fuel benefit charges and the van benefit charge will increase in line with CPI.

Electric vehicles

Electric cars and vans will become subject to vehicle excise duty (road tax) from 1 April 2025.

Fuel duty

While no comment was made on fuel duty by the Chancellor in the statement, the OBR did flag up that if the temporary 5p a litre reduction for 2022/23 is not rolled over into 2023/24 and, for once, automatic fuel duty indexation is allowed to take effect, then there will be a total duty rise of around 12p a litre.

State pensions and social security benefits

All UK-wide benefits, including state pensions (under the ‘triple lock’) and the standard minimum income guarantee in pension credit will increase by 10.1% from April 2023. Plans to create a new housing element of pension credit to replace pensioner housing benefit are now intended to take effect in 2028/29.

The benefit cap will be raised from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally and from £23,000 to £25,323 in Greater London. For single adults, the national cap will increase from £13,400 to £14,753 and the cap in Greater London will rise from £15,410 to £16,967.

Households on means-tested benefits will receive an additional £900 cost of living payment in 2023/24. Pensioner households will receive an extra £300 cost of living payment, and individuals on disability benefits will get an extra £150 disability cost of living payment.

UC claimants will be able to apply for a loan to help with mortgage interest repayments after three months, instead of the current nine months. The zero earnings rule will be abolished in Spring 2023 to allow claimants to continue receiving support while they are in work and on UC.

Energy price support

The domestic energy price guarantee (EPG) will increase to £3,000 for one year from 1 April 2023 and equivalent support will continue to be provided in Northern Ireland. However, the parameters of the EPG scheme may be revised.

The support for households that use alternative fuels, such as heating oil, to heat their homes will be doubled to £200 for 2022/23.

Social care funding in England

The implementation of the plans to reform the funding of social care in England, recently legislated for in the Health and Care Act 2022, will be deferred for two years until October 2025.

Council tax in England

Local authorities in England will be able to increase council tax by up to 3% a year from April 2023 without needing to hold a referendum. Authorities with social care responsibilities will also be able to increase the adult social care precept by up to 2% a year.