December 10, 2019

Ahead of the upcoming general election this week, here is a roundup of the key taxation pledges from the three main political parties manifesto’s. This list is not limited to the below, please see the full manifesto’s by clicking on the name of the party below.

Conservative/ DUP

  • Freeze previously scheduled corporation
    tax cuts, keeping 19% rate in place
  • No increases to income tax, VAT or NICs
    with NICs threshold raised to £9,500 next
    year from current threshold of £8,632
  • Increase SDLT rate by 3% for overseas
    buyers
  • Reform the UK’s corporate governance
    regime, including insolvency rules and
    audit regime
  • Strengthen powers of Small Business
    Commissioner to tackle late payment
  • Increase R&D tax credit rate to 13%
  • Implement the proposed digital services
    tax, placing a 2% tax on revenues
    generated by digital services
  • Increase the employment allowance for
    small firms – a discount on national
    insurance payments
  • Review and reform Entrepreneurs Relief
  • Invest in a singular, ‘beefed-up’ Anti-Tax
    Evasion Unit within HMRC

Labour

  • Reverse recent corporation tax cuts – with
    return to 26% headline rate by 2022 with
    a small profits rate for those with turnover
    under £300,000 p/a
  • Introduce additional income tax rate of
    45% from £80,000
  • Raise property taxes for overseas buyers
  • Corporate groups under common
    ownership with offshore entities to
    become ‘unitary enterprises’ which
    require profits to be reported in the
    jurisdiction where economic activity
    occurs
  • Bring Capital Gains and dividend taxes into
    line with income tax rates with de-minimis
    exemption thresholds of £1000
  • Abolish the lower income tax rate for
    dividend income
  • Freeze VAT rates
  • Scrap Entrepreneurs Relief and consult
    on better forms of support
  • Full review of effectiveness of corporate
    tax reliefs

Liberal Democrats

  • Restore Corporation Tax to 20%
  • Capital Gains Tax to be brought into line with Income Tax by abolishing the separate Capital
    gains tax-free allowance and creating a single
    allowance
  • Allow companies to claim R&D tax credits against cost of
    purchasing datasets and cloud computing
  • Scrap Marriage Allowance
  • Increase Digital Services Tax rate from 2% to 6%
  • Levy on tobacco companies to fund health care
  • Provide tax support to promote creative industries.
  • Introduce ‘compulsory levy’ on gambling firms
  • Enable local authorities to bring in tourist levies
  • Support/build on OECD proposals to require multinationals to
    pay tax more closely related to sales in every country they
    operate
  • End Loan Charge Scheme and review IR35
    rules