Changes to the business tax on April 1: the corporate tax rate remains at 19%

Under the previous government, there were plans to cut corporation tax by 2% from April 2020, bringing the rate down to 17%, but this was scrapped as soon as the Tories came to power last December with a large majority.

Maintaining the corporate tax rate at 19% will bring in £46bn in the first year, rising to £75bn a year by 2024-25.

The cut had been a 2016 Budget commitment, but was seen as a costly measure and an unnecessary cut by many commentators, as the UK has one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the G20.

The special corporate tax rate for mutual funds and investment companies with variable capital is also unchanged at 20%.

Employee NICs

The National Insurance Contribution (NIC) threshold increase is proceeding as planned, from £8,632 to £9,500 in April. This should provide an average increase of £104 in earnings.

For 2020/21, the threshold at which employees start paying NICs will increase to £9,500 a year for employees (Class 1) and self-employed (Class 4).

The increase in the primary threshold and the lower profit limit is a step towards the government’s aim of raising these amounts to £12,500 a year to align them more closely with the personal income tax relief.

The Tory manifesto ahead of the general election in December promised no increases in income tax, VAT or NICs.