Autumn Statement 2013 : What To Expect

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November 5th 2024
Tax Week 31
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Autumn Statement 2013 : What To Expect

From 11:15 tomorrow, The Chancellor will be delivering an update on the Government's taxation and spending plans.

Tomorrow's statement should provide more clarification on what has already been announced in this year's Budget, as well the rumours and leaks that followed.

  1. Income Tax
    • Announced in the 2013 Budget, the tax free personal allowance is set to rise to £10,000 from 6th April 2014. There has been internal wrangling to raise this further, so further increases possible.
    • Further rises in the tax free personal allowance were set to rise by inflation (CPI), however with a Lib Dem plan to match the amount of tax free income with the minimum wage (£12,500), this might have to change, for the short term at least.
    • Recent years have seen allowance rises lead to a reduction of the limit at which the higher rate threshold takes effect. So, any rises above the planned (1 percent) will push more people into the 40 percent tax band.
    • Married couples were promised a tax break with the transferable tax free allowance of up to £1,000 - we should get more information about this tomorrow.
    • Class 2 National Insurance Contributions, which are paid by self employed people at a weekly rate (either by direct debit or one-off payment), may be integrated and paid at tax return time.
    • The Government has been consulting about simplifying tax for a while now, and continues to do so. Expect to see more information on what has been learned.
  2. Fuel and Energy
    • Planned fuel duty price rises of 3 pence per litre were stopped in the Budget, but we await confirmation whether they resume from next September.
    • After much recent debate over rising energy costs, the Government has responded with plans to alter green levies to help bring bills down. The average household combined electricity/gas bill should reduce by £50 per annum. Expect more information about this.
  3. ISA
    • Inflation linked rise in the Max ISA limit would see it rise to £11,880 - expect further changes or confirmation.
  4. Pensions
    • From 6th April 2014, the basic state pension may rise by 2.7 percent in response to rising living costs. The new state pension should be £113.10 per week.
    • Tax relief people can claim when making pension contributions will be restricted to a maximum of £1.25m contribution limit over a lifetime - and only £40,000 of contributions per tax year.
  5. Childcare and Education
    • More information about the new childcare cost support system being introduced from late 2015.
    • From the start of the autumn term 2014, infant in state schools in England are due to receive free school dinners. A saving of around £400 per child per year, and a cost to the Government of £600 million per year.
  6. Welfare
    • In last year's statement, rises in working age benefits and tax credits were capped to 1 percent per year until 2015-2016.
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