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The delayed Autumn Statement 2022, which was announced on 17th November, has prompted accusations of the government imposing a ‘stealth tax’ by way of fiscal drag.

The changes to tax rules and continued threshold freezes that were revealed by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are expected to affect millions of people over the next 5–6 years.

Here’s what you need to know about fiscal drag, the primary taxes affected by the one-two punch of inflation and allowance freezes, and what you can do to reduce the financial squeeze.

After September’s disastrous mini-budget, the UK had been waiting in apprehension for the Autumn Statement 2022, which was finally published on 17th November.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, technically stuck to the government’s promise not to increase tax rates – but frozen tax band thresholds and reduced allowances still mean that more people will be paying more tax from April 2023.

Among some of the harsher measures announced in the Autumn Statement is the slashing of Capital Gains Tax exemptions over the next two years. Here’s what you need to know about how Capital Gains Tax is changing, who will be affected, and what you can do about it.

For all the talk of recessions and rising inflation and interest rates, employment levels seem to be higher than ever. As of this summer, the UK unemployment rate sits at an estimated 3.5% – the lowest it’s been since 1974.

This may be partially due to the fact that more people in the UK over 65 years old are either remaining in work or going back to work even after reaching retirement age.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that in the second quarter of 2022, the number of people in employment aged 65 or above increased to a record 1.468 million. The increase of 173,000 from the previous quarter was also a new record.

You may be wondering what exactly this means. Is it good or bad news for our ageing population that older people are working for longer? Will it become necessary for people over 65 to continue working instead of retiring when they reach State Pension age?

Here’s what you need to know about these record-breaking statistics, and what you should do if you’re worried about planning for retirement or continuing to work as a pensioner.

Just over a month ago, then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a series of proposals as part of the government’s Growth Plan. These included several upgrades to the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), which helps companies to raise money.

However, after Kwarteng’s departure from the position a few weeks later, his replacement Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced on 17th October that the government would actually be making a U-turn on the majority of the measures in Kwarteng’s plan.

There were few clear survivors from this mini-budget reversal, but the proposed SEIS changes seem to have made it through. Hunt’s speech stated that they will, “continue with […] the wider reforms to investment taxes”, which SEIS adjustments would surely be a part of.

While nothing permanent has been announced or approved yet, full details of the government’s updated plans should be published soon – though the new tax and spending plan originally anticipated on Halloween has been pushed back to 17th November.

In the meantime, here’s what we know about the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme updates, and how they could help if the government pushes them through.

The last few weeks have been chaotic for the UK government. Due to the ever-changing plans for taxation and investment procedures, business owners especially have been affected.
After then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget proposals caused government borrowing to rise and the value of the pound to drop at the end of September, his replacement Chancellor Jeremy Hunt stated on 17th October that most of the unvetted proposals would be cancelled.
If any owner-managed business had already begun making decisions for their future operations based on Kwarteng’s proposals, these reversals will have thrown a spanner in the works.
Here’s what you need to know about which tax changes have been axed and which ones owner-managers can still expect to benefit from in the next tax year.

The government’s rules for working off-payroll, known as IR35, apply when workers or contractors provide services through their own company or an intermediary, ensuring that workers pay the same Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions (NIC) as direct employees.

The IR35 reforms introduced in 2017 and 2021 were poorly received across the public and private sectors. So, when previous Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced in September that these reforms would be rolled back in the next tax year as part of the Growth Plan 2022, many contractors and businesses welcomed this reversal.

However, new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt revealed in his first statement to the House of Commons in October that many of the measures proposed by Kwarteng would no longer be going ahead. This includes the repeal of the IR35 reforms, leaving the current implementation the same.

With so much confusion over the government’s tax plans, where does this leave IR35 – and what should contractors and businesses do now?