With further analysis and commentary, here are some extra thoughts on last months budget.
Double Cab Pickups – buried in the small print, was a proposal to treat these as cars rather than vans from next April. This reverses the reversal of an announcement back in February, when a similar change was announced and then withdrawn shortly afterwards.
High Income Child Benefit charge – again in the small print, the plan to base the charge on combined household incomes, rather than highest earner, has been scrapped. There is a sop in terms of promising to use tax codes or pre populated Self Assessment entries to make life easier.
Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief for IHT – this has whipped up a storm in the press as being unfair to farmers, possibly aided by comments from a Celebrity Farmer of Diddly Squat fame, Yes, the regime is not going to be as benign for business owners – all sectors – and farmers post April 2026, but there is still up to £3m of joint exemption for a married couple, and 20% on the remainder over that, with opportunities to mitigate most of this by lifetime planning. Its hard to feel anyone is particularly hard done by.
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self Assessment – confirmation that the project is going ahead, and a commitment to introduce businesses and landlords with incomes (turnover or rent) over £20k into MTD for ITSA by the end of this parliament”. The first staging is April 2026 for businesses and landlords with turnover or rent over £50k.
Company V Sole Trader / Partnership & Directors Salary Considerations – updating some modelling we did earlier this year, the Employers NI rise doesn’t really change either the Company v Sole Trader / Partnership question, nor the Salary / Dividend mix for small companies.
IHT, CGT, BPR, APR, BADR – Planning Implications for Business Owners – looking at the various IHT and CGT changes and how these effect planning for those looking to retire, sell a business, or pass on to the next generation.
