Budget 2019

16th November 2018

This year’s Budget certainly won’t be going down as one of the most exciting. With Brexit ongoing it’s certainly difficult to make too many changes until we can be sure of the future landscape for Britain, but was there anything we should be taking note of? Well no, not really – but that is good news for now as very little will change and an emergency budget next year has been promised if we crash out of the EU without a deal.

Something that you will have heard being bandied about in connection to this budget is a possible end to austerity, Chancellor Philip Hammond said: “Today I can report to the British people their hard work is paying off and the era of austerity is finally coming to an end.” In theory, this means we won’t have to cut back quite so much in the coming years, but the reality remains to be seen.

Below is a summary of a few items you may wish to be aware of:

Income Tax

  • From April 2019 the personal allowance will increase to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000.

Pensions

  •  From April 2019 the Pension Lifetime Allowance will rise to £1055,000.

 Capital gains tax

  • From April 2019 Capital Gains Tax Allowance increases to £12,000, a rise of £300.

Inheritance tax

  • From April 2018 the residence nil rate band increases from £125,000 to £150,000.
  • The IHT nil rate band will remains frozen at £325,000 until April 2021.

Trust taxation

  • A consultation is planned to consider how to simplify and make trust taxation fairer.

ISAs

  • Annual ISA limits remain the same at £20,000 per person.

We warned you it wasn’t very exciting! If you have any questions or concerns about how the latest Budget might affect you, feel free to contact us.