Autumn Budget: Business As Usual for Corporates?

The Autumn Budget 2024 may have been a landmark fiscal event, and the most tax-raising budget in many years. However, for corporation tax it was very much business as usual with only very small technical changes.

The rates of corporation tax, Annual Investment Allowance, Full Expensing and R&D tax credit rates were all confirmed as staying the same. This provides welcome certainty for businesses fed up with regular changes over the last few years.

The government have however released a corporation tax roadmap, which “confirms the major features of the Corporation Tax regime for the duration of this Parliament” as well as outlining some areas where they are considering changing to ensure the tax system is dynamic and up to date.

Potential changes further down the line include:

1. Simplification of capital allowances legislation
2. Confirmation on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs.
3. Consultation of Land Remediation Relief
4. Exploring the extension of the full expensing regime for leased assets, initially raised by the previous government
5. Reviews and consultations planned on international tax including transfer pricing and Pillar 2 rules.
6. Planned R&D disclosure facility and consulting on use of advanced clearances for R&D reliefs
7. Publishing an update in Spring 2025 on modernizing the technology system the corporation tax regime relies on.