• The Personal Allowance will be increased to £11,850 for 2018/19 (from £11,500)
• The Higher Rate 40% band will start from £46,350 for 2018/19 (from £45,000)
• VAT limits frozen for 2 years
• Dividend allowance to be reduced to £2,000 for 2018/19
• CGT annual exemption to be increased to £11,700 from £11,300

Key Announcements

Stamp Duty (SDLT) removed for First Time Buyers

The relief works as follows:

• consideration < £300,000 then no SDLT
• consideration >= £300,001 and <= £500,000 then no SDLT of first £300,000 and 5% SDLT on the balance
• consideration > £500,000 then no relief

The relief applies to transactions on or after 22^nd November 2017

A first time buyer is ‘an individual or individuals who have never owned an interest in a residential property in the UK or anywhere else in the world and who intends to occupy the property as their main residence’

Business Rates and the ‘StaircaseTax’

£2.3 billion of support has been announced.

• Indexation is being switched from RPI to CPI
• Retrospective legislation will address ‘staircase tax’ and affected businesses will be able to ask the valuations office to recalculate valuations
• Pubs will continue to get £1,000 discount up to a rateable value of £100,000
• VOA will revalue every 3 years

An extra £3 billion to prepare for Brexit over the next two years

The money will make sure the government is ready on day 1 of exit. It will include funding to prepare the border, the future immigration system and new trade relationships.

£6.3 billion of new funding for the NHS

£3.5 billion will be invested in upgrading NHS buildings and improving care.

£2.8 billion will go towards improving A&E performance, reducing waiting times for patients, and treating more people this winter.

Economic Forecast

The Office for Budget Responsibility slashed its 2017 growth forecast from 2% to 1.5%.

Output, it added, would be weaker than previously thought in each of the subsequent four years.