Alongside the many changes to other duties are a few other tax changes worth mentioning covering VAT, plastics, Stamp Duty Land Tax and Fuel Duty.
VAT registration threshold frozen at £85,000
On VAT, Hammond has resisted calls to lower the registration threshold and has frozen this at £85,000 until March 2022. This will particularly impact businesses close to the registration threshold who with only modest growth may find themselves not only having to register for VAT sooner than they had anticipated, but also crucially having to make the transition to Making Tax Digital at the same time.
Consultation on a new tax on plastics
As expected there is going to be a new tax aiming to reduce plastic waste. This will be consulted on before implementation, but essentially it will introduce a new tax on both manufactured and imported plastics which are less than 30% recycled.
Stamp Duty Land Tax – first time buyer exemption extended
Finally, following the previous introduction of a Stamp Duty Land Tax exemption for first time buyers on properties costing up to £300,000, the exemption has now been extended for shared ownership properties costing up to £500,000.
Fuel Duty freeze
As expected the fuel duty freeze is being maintained for the ninth consecutive year.