• The minimum wage will rise from £8.91 to £9.50 per hour from April 2022.
• Universal Credit taper to be reduced by 8% by 1 December 2021.
• Creative tax reliefs to be extended to April 2024 and doubled until April 2023.
• Scope of R&D relief to be expanded to include cloud computing and data costs with additional relief for UK only R&D from April 2023.
•  £1m Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) extended to March 2023.
• Bank levy to reduce to 3% meaning the rate of Corporation Tax on banks will increase from 27% to 28% in 2023.
• New Small Producer Relief as an extension of Small Brewers relief, and new ‘Draft relief’ to apply to draft beer and cider from February 2023.

Inflation has hit 3.1%. Growth predictions are revised up from 4% to 6.5%. It is forecast that the economy will return to pre-COVID levels by the turn of the year.

Unemployment to peak at 5.2% which means there will be over 2 million less unemployed than expected. Wages have grown by 3.5% since 2020.

A budget for a new economy post COVID. 

The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) is to have a New Charter going forward:

• Net debt to be a % of GDP.
• In normal times the government to only borrow to invest with other financial needs being met through taxation.

HGV driver shortages

• New funding for lorry park facilities.
• HGV levy to be suspended until 2023 and VED frozen for HGV’s.

Government spending: levelling up public services

• Healthcare spending to be increased by £44bn to £177bn.
• Grant funding being provided to local government of £4.8bn.
• £4.7bn to go to schools by 2024/25, £1,500 per pupil.
• Additional funding from £1.7bn levelling up fund for projects in Scotland, Wales, NI as well as all regions in England. 
• £560m on youth services.
• £5bn for road maintenance and £5bn for buses, cycling and walking.
• £20bn on R&D by the end of this parliament, on top of the cost of R&D tax relief.
• £560m for new numeracy programme for children, ‘Multiply’.

Businesses

Creative tax reliefs

• Extended by two years to March 2024 and doubled until March 2023.
• £800m of additional funding for museums, galleries etc.

R&D tax relief

• Scope to be expanded to include cloud computing and data costs.
• From April 2023 additional relief for UK only R&D activities.

Tonnage tax

• To reward companies for adopting the UK merchant shipping flag for the first time ever.

Air Passenger Duty (APD)

• The return leg exemption be brought back for UK domestic flights from April 2023 with a lower rate of APD. Higher rates for long haul flights.

Corporation Tax (CT)

• Increase in rate to 25% from April 2023 already announced.
• Bank levy reducing to 3% from April 2023. Overall rate of CT on banks to increase from 27% to 28% in April 2023.

Capital allowances

• £1m Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) extended to March 2023.

Review of business rates

• More frequent revaluations every three years.
• New investment relief for green technology.
• New business rates improvement relief.
• Additional 50% discount for 2022 for the hospitality and leisure sector.

Individuals

• The national living/minimum wage will rise from £8.91 to £9.50 per hour from April 2022.
•  Universal credit taper to be cut by 8% by 1 December 2021.

Misc duties

• Alcohol duty simplification, 6 rates instead of 15. ‘The stronger the drink the higher the rate’.
• There will be a new ‘Small producer relief’, an extension of small brewers relief.
• New relief, ‘Draft relief’ to apply to draft beer and cider. Will cut duty by 5%.
• Planned duty increases on spirits cancelled and sparkling wine duty reduced to match that for non-sparkling wines.
• Planned rises to fuel duty scrapped.