Autumn Budget 2024: A Detailed Summary

For months before the delivery of yesterday’s budget, speculation had been rife about what terrors it would contain.

In the event, some of the fears proved unfounded – no changes to the tax-free lump sum from pension funds, no extension of the freeze on income tax bands beyond the already distant horizon of April 2028. But there were immediate rises in the rates of Capital Gains Tax, confirmation of the VAT charge on private school fees, and abolition of most of the tax advantages of being a ‘non-dom’.

The biggest tax increase by far was a substantial increase in Employers’ National Insurance Contributions: it was a relief that this will only apply from the beginning of the next tax year, after the complications of in-year changes that previous Budgets have imposed. It prompted a furious debate about whether this was, in fact, a ‘tax on working people’, contrary to Labour’s manifesto pledges.

There was, as always, a huge amount of information in the documents that are released on the internet the moment the Chancellor sits down. It is possible to miss the impact of changes that were announced earlier and which are only now coming into effect. In this document we have summarised the latest proposals and their impact. We have also included reminders of some of those earlier announcements. If you would like to discuss please contact us

Significant points

• Personal tax rates and allowances on income continue to be frozen at current levels – no increases until 2028/29
• No changes to income tax reliefs on pension schemes
• Substantial increases in Employers’ National Insurance Contributions from 6 April 2025
• Increase in Capital Gains Tax rates from 30 October 2024
• Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge for buying additional dwellings increased from 31 October 2024
• Confirmation that VAT will apply to private school fees from January 2025
• Major changes to taxation of ‘non-doms’ from April 2025
• IHT agricultural and business property reliefs restricted from April 2026

Download the full 2024 Autumn Budget Summary.