The much anticipated Autumn Budget 2024 has now been delivered, and whilst big chunks of it were released early (to no doubt gauge the level of any backlash), we did still have a few surprises in there. In this blog post we take a look at the changes.

National Minimum Wage
This was an early release and we knew a day before the budget what the national minimum wage rates would be from 6 April 2025 and these are:
Workers aged 21 and over | £12.21 per hour |
Workers aged 18-20 | £10.00 per hour |
Workers aged 16-17 | £7.55 per hour |
National Insurance Contributions
The big point in the budget. There were no changes to National Insurance for employees or the self-employed, however, for employers there were major changes.
From April 2025 Employers National Insurance will increase from 13.8% to 15%, and it will start to be payable for wages in excess of £5,000 a year (previously £9,100). To counter some of the increase they have increased the Employment Allowance, which gives employers an annual allowance against the employers NIC costs, from £5,000 per year to £10,500 from 6 April 2025 and removed the £100,000 Employers NIC cap from the eligibility criteria.
What does this mean in reality? Well…….
The big employers are taking the hit. Below we have looked at what the costs for a sample of employee numbers and wage bills would look like:
Previous Ers NIC total | Ers NIC total from 6 April 2025 | Increase / (Decrease) | |
20 staff with a total wage bill of £750k | £73,384 | £87,000 | £13,616 |
10 staff with a total wage bill of £375K | £34,192 | £38,250 | £4,058 |
5 staff with a total wage bill of £187.5k | £14,596 | £13,875 | (£721) |
Another big change will be the sole Director payrolls. One Director payrolls are not eligible for the Employment Allowance, and typically their salaries are set just below the secondary threshold which applied to Employers NIC at £9,100 – meaning no Employers NIC was payable. The £9,100 salary did still make it an eligible year towards their state pension entitlement as it exceeded the primary threshold on employees NIC (£6,396).
We are now in a situation that from 6 April 2025 the secondary threshold for Employers NIC (£5,000) will be below the primary threshold (£6,500) – this means for a Director to make the year an eligible one towards state pension the company will have to incur some Employers NIC.
However, stick with us as it’s maybe not as bad as it would seem:
If company taxable profits below £50,000
Salary of £9,100 prior to 6 April 2025 | Salary of £9,100 post 6 April 2025 | Salary of £12,570 post 6 April 2025 | |
Income tax* | £nil | £nil | £nil |
Ees NIC | £nil | £nil | £nil |
Ers NIC | £nil | £615 | £1,135 |
Corp tax saved @ lower rate of 19% | (£1,729) | (£1,846) | (£2,604) |
Tax position | (£1,729) | (£1,231) | (£1,469) |
As you can see from the above, if company profits are below £50,000, and depending on individual circumstances, it may well be better to increase the Director salary to £12,570 from 6 April 2025 so as to reduce the overall extra cost from the £498 if you did nothing, to £260.
The above table is if your company taxable profits are under £50,000, but if they were between £50,000 and £250,000 then it would look like this:
If company taxable profits between £50,000 and £250,000
Salary of £9,100 prior to 6 April 2025 | Salary of £9,100 post 6 April 2025 | Salary of £12,570 post 6 April 2025 | |
Income tax* | £nil | £nil | £nil |
Ees NIC | £nil | £nil | £nil |
Ers NIC | £nil | £615 | £1,135 |
Corp tax saved @ marginal rate of 26.5% | (£2,411) | (£2,574) | (£3,632) |
Tax position | (£2,411) | (£1,959) | (£2,497) |
So if your company profits are between £50,000 and £250,000, you would be £86 a year better off by increasing your salary to £12,570 from 6 April 2025 than leaving it at £9,100.
Of course there are other considerations to make such as the employers NIC you will be paying monthly (or quarterly) over the course of the year, whereas the corporation tax saving is made in one go. There’s also the administration of paying HMRC every month (we would suggest setting up a Direct Debit) but with most people aiming for eligible years towards state pension, some level of monthly payments is unavoidable.
Capital gains tax
This was rumoured to be changing going forwards, with a lot of debate over whether it would actually result in more revenue for the Government.
Effective from Budget day, 30th October, the rate of capital gains tax you will pay as a basic rate taxpayer (including the gain) will increase from 10% to 18%, and the rate you will pay as a higher rate taxpayer will increase from 20% to 24%. Thereby aligning with the rates applicable to those for the sale of residential property.
Those selling a business or assets used in a business may qualify for Business Asset Disposal Relief. This entitled the person to a rate of 10% on the first £1million of gains from the disposal. From 6 April 2025 this rate will increase to 14% and from 6 April 2026 will increase to 18%. The lifetime allowance of £1million is remaining.
With the new capital gains tax rates effective from 30th October, but the BADR rate not increasing until 6 April 2025, it is actually an even more efficient relief between these two dates.
U-turn, on the u-turn on Double Cab Pickup Trucks (DCPU)
Just when we thought this had gone away with the Governments u-turn in July, we now have confirmation that Double Cab Pickup Trucks will be classed as cars from 1 April 2025 for corporation tax and 6 April 2025 for income tax.
What this means is that any DCPU purchased before April 2025 will be treated for capital allowances under the old rules (100% deduction allowance from taxable profits through Annual Investment Allowance), but any purchased after this date will be treated as cars and so a much reduced capital allowance against taxable profits.
For employees where the DCPU was purchased, leased or ordered before 6 April 2025, they will still be able to apply the old Benefit In Kind rules of treating as a van until the earlier of disposal, lease expiry or 5 April 2029.
Inheritance tax
The nil rate band has been held at £325,000, increasing to £500,000 if passing a property to direct descendants. This can increase to £1million if a spouse dies and passes everything to their remaining spouse.
The big changes here are to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief which previously allowed for up to 100% relief for qualifying assets. From April 2026 these reliefs will be capped at £1million with values over this amount being discounted by up to 50%.
Also from 6 April 2027 any unused pension funds and death benefits payable from a pension will be brought into a person’s estate.
Other news from the Autumn Budget 2024
- Electric cars – capital allowances of 100% for zero emission cars and electricity charge points is extended to 31 March 2026 for corporation tax, and 5 April 2026 for income tax. From April 2028 company car tax rates will increase by 2% for zero emission cars and 1% for all other vehicles. From April 2029 they will increase by the same percentage points again.
- Corporation tax – no changes with the rates remaining at 19% for profits up to £50,000, a rate of 25% when profits exceed £250,000 and where they fall between those two amounts the marginal rate of 26.5% applies.
- Fuel duty – frozen for 2025 and keeping the 5p cut
- Non-UK Domiciled status – to be scrapped from UK tax legislation from 6 April 2025.
- Personal allowances – these had been frozen at £12,570 by the previous government until 2028, but it was announced from this point they will return to increasing by inflation.
As you can see there’s a lot to consider from this Budget, particularly if you are a small business owner. The Chancellor started this budget with the words “invest, invest, invest”. At Veritons we invest the time throughout our appointment to ensure we are fully aware of your circumstances to ensure our advice is relevant and targeted. If you would like to hear more about how we operate, why not get in contact for your free introductory meeting by hitting the button below.
For the full detail on the budget and the Chancellor’s speech to the house click here.