Autumn Budget Highlights for SMEs and the Self Employed

If you missed the budget yesterday here are the highlights for small businesses and the self-employed...

Threshold For VAT Registration

The Chancellor has frozen the point at which you have to be VAT registered at £85,000 until 2022.

Help For Apprenticeships 

The number of companies offering apprenticeships fell dramatically following the introduction of burdensome co-investment costs for small firms who want to bring young people into the workplace. The Chancellor announced they will be dropping the proportion of apprenticeship training costs footed by small firms from 10 per cent to 5.  

Employment Allowance

The Employment Allowance is a vital incentive that’s helped more than a million small firms create jobs, increase pay and invest over the last year alone. The Government has decided to keep the allowance in place, directing it towards the small employers where it has the most impact. 

Training for the Self Employed

The Chancellor has responded to calls for greater funding for training within the self-employed community and announced the development of a £10 million self-employment training pilot scheme in Manchester. 

New Enterprise Allowance

The New Enterprise Allowance programme will be continued. The initiative has helped more than 100,000 unemployed people start firms. 

Start-Up Loans Company

The Government is extending funding for this crucial part of the British Business Bank. 

Small Business Rate Relief

Small businesses on our high streets that cannot get Small Business Rate Relief will be delighted with the significant discount for the next two years, which on average will help these businesses to the tune of almost £2,000 each, but potentially up to around £16,000 off small businesses facing the biggest bills.

Fuel Duty Freeze

The fuel duty freeze will also provide welcome relief for small firms who rely on road transport, particularly as the cost of petrol has surged over the last year.

Improvements to the Road Network

Nine in ten small businesses say a properly funded road network is important to their success. The £420 million of new funding dedicated to tackling the scourge of potholes is an important intervention. 

Talking about the budget, Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses National Chairman, said “This is the most small-business-friendly budget that this Chancellor has delivered. He has listened to our requests across many areas of tax and public policy, putting him firmly on the side of Britain’s small businesses.

“On the tax front, small firms up and down the country will be pleased to see the VAT threshold frozen for two years. FSB was credited in the speech for our campaign on this, stopping an over-reach which would have created a mountain of bureaucracy and a tax-hike for more than a million businesses. I look forward to seeing further innovative changes to VAT post-Brexit.

“Small businesses on our high streets that cannot get Small Business Rate Relief will be delighted with the significant discount for the next 2 years, which on average will help these businesses to the tune of almost £2,000 each, but potentially up to around £16,000 off small businesses facing the biggest bills.

The decision to protect and refocus the Employment Allowance means that small firms will use the £3,000 of help to increase staff hours, improve pay and meet the rising costs of the National Living Wage, boosting jobs and productivity.”