In the Autumn Budget of 2024, the UK government introduced several significant changes across various tax and financial areas:

Minimum Wage: Effective from April 2025, the National Minimum Wage for individuals aged 21 and over will increase by 6.7%, rising from £11.44 to £12.21 per hour.

National Insurance: Starting April 2025, employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs) will rise by 1.2 percentage points to 15%. Additionally, the threshold at which employers begin paying NICs for each employee will decrease from £9,100 to £5,000.

This increase will affect particularly companies where the only employee is the director. The change means a substantial increase in NIC’s liability. This might be avoided or mitigated if another person is employed to utilize Employment Allowance, which will be increased from £5,000 to £10,000.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT): For disposals made on or after October 30, 2024, the lower rate of CGT will increase from 10% to 18%, and the higher rate from 20% to 24%. This change aligns the taxation of non-residential gains with residential property gains.

Non-Domiciled (Non-Dom) Tax Regime: The existing non-dom tax regime will be abolished and replaced with a new residence-based system over a four-year period. This reform is expected to raise £12.7 billion over the next five years.

Stamp Duty: The Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) surcharge on second homes in England and Northern Ireland will increase by 2%, bringing the surcharge to 5%, effective from October 31, 2024.

Income Tax Thresholds: The freeze on personal income tax thresholds will not be extended. Starting from the 2028-29 tax year, these thresholds will be updated in line with inflation.

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