Finance Bill delay

The government published Finance (No.3) Bill 2017-19 on Wednesday, 7 November 2018. The Bill is so named as it is the third Finance Bill in the current special two-year session of Parliament. The Bill, colloquially known as Finance Bill 2018-19 will become Finance Act 2019 after Royal Assent is received which is expected in March 2019 before the Brexit deadline.

The progress of the Bill through parliament was delayed as a result of the extensive Brexit debate that took place before the Christmas recess. The Bill is now due to have its report stage and third reading on Tuesday 8 January 2019, a day after parliament returns to the House of Commons. Amendments can be made to the Bill at Report Stage.

Some of the measures included within the Bill are:

• The Income Tax rates, thresholds, and allowances for 2019-20. This includes meeting the government’s commitment to increase the basic personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher rate threshold to £50,000.
• The setting of the Corporation Tax rate for 2020-21 at 17%. The rate for 2019-20 remains at 19%.
• The temporary increase in the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) from £200,000 to £1m for two years from 1 January 2019.
• The introduction of a new 30 day reporting and payment deadline for CGT on UK residential property gains from 6 April 2020.
• A number of changes to Entrepreneurs’ Relief that have been subject to modification from what was originally proposed.
• A reduction in the tax writing down allowance from 8% to 6% from April 2019.
• The current VAT registration limit (£85,000) and deregistration limit (£83,000) will continue to apply for a further two years; until 31 March 2022.

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