What could the Autumn statement could mean for small businesses?
Capital Gains Tax, tax hikes for dividend income and scrapping £2,000 tax-free dividend income threshold all under review in this month’s Autumn Statement.
The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is considering increasing the headline rate of capital gains tax (CGT) and taxes on company dividends, which is how many self-employed small business owners pay themselves.
Hunt could be breaking the triple tax lock, a manifesto promise not to raise VAT, income tax or National Insurance. These would come on top of the Government increasing corporation tax on businesses to 25 per cent from April 2023.
Roger Barker, head of policy at the Institute of Directors, told the Financial Times: “This is going to give the impression that the government does not care about small businesses. The Treasury probably thinks this is a group that earns a lot of money, but small businesses are not big earners as a whole — and they have already been penalised during the pandemic.”
The Autumn Statement is due to take place on November 17 2022.