Spring Budget 2024 - at a glance

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has unveiled the contents of this year's Budget in the House of Commons., calling it a “budget for long term growth”

It is the last scheduled Budget before the next general election, which is expected to take place later this year.

Here is a summary of the main announcements.

Tax and income support

• National Insurance, a payroll tax, cut by 2p in the pound for employees and the self-employed
• Non-dom tax regime, for UK residents whose permanent home is overseas, to be replaced with new rules from April 2025
• Full child benefits to be paid to households where highest-earning parent earns up to £60,000, limit is £50,000 currently
• Partial child benefit to be paid where highest earner earns up to £80,000
• £5,000 "British ISA" tax allowance for individual savers to invest in UK-listed companies
• Longer repayment period for people on benefits taking out emergency budgeting loans from the government
• £90 fee to obtain a debt relief order scrapped
• Government fund for people struggling with cost of living pressures to continue for another six months

Cigarettes, vapes and alcohol

• Freeze on alcohol duty, which had been due to end in August, to continue until February 2025
• New tax on vaping products to start in October 2026, following a consultation
• Existing tax on tobacco to increase, to maintain the "financial incentive to choose vaping over smoking"

Transport and energy

• Fuel duty frozen again, with the 5p cut in fuel duty on petrol and diesel, due to end later this month, kept for another year
• £160m deal for UK government to purchase site of planned Wylfa nuclear site in north Wales
• "Windfall" tax on the profits of energy firms, which had been scheduled to end in March 2028, extended until 2029
• Air passenger duty, the tax paid on flights, to go up for business class tickets

Housing

• Higher rate of tax paid on profits from selling property cut from 28% to 24%
• Tax breaks for owners of holiday let properties scrapped

Business and investment

• Threshold at which small businesses must register to pay VAT raised from £85,000 to £90,000 from April
• Tax reliefs for touring and orchestral productions, which had to been due to end in March 2025, made permanent
• Covid-era government loan scheme for small businesses extended until March 2026

Further information on the announcements made can be found on HM Treasury Website 

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