Budget March 23 Summary

The main measures notified in the 2023 budget by the Chancellor were:

a) The removal of the lifetime allowance charge for pension savings. Prior to this measure, if an individual had pension savings in excess of approx £1m, they would have suffered additional tax on accessing their pension.

b) Increase in the annual pensions allowance from £40,000 to £60,000. This figure represents the amount an individual can ‘contribute’ into their pension each tax year. The contribution includes employer contributions and deemed uplifts in value of final salary pension schemes.

Most  of the measures which come into effect for tax year 2023/24 were announced previously in th Autumn Statement.  The principal measures were:

a) Increase in corporation tax rates from 19% to 25%

b) Lowering of the starting point of the 45% income tax rate to £125,140 from £150,000.

c) Reduction in the tax free dividends threshold from £2,000 to £1,000.

d) Reduction in the tax free amount for capital gains tax from £12,300 to £6,000.

e) Freezing of tax bands until 2027/28