At 1pm today, Kwasi Kwarteng became the second shortest Chancellor of the Exchequer in UK political history, with the only shorter stint coming from Ian Mcleod who unfortunately suffered a heart attack just 30 days after taking charge back in 1970.
Less than one hour later, we had our fourth Chancellor of the year as Jeremy Hunt was promoted. Ed Argar became Chief Secretary to the Treasury, swapping roles with his predecessor Chris Philp.
A press conference was announced, and Liz Truss took to the lectern at 2.30pm and spent less than 10 minutes making her speech and answering a few questions from the press.
Whilst announcing she was ‘incredibly sorry’ to lose Kwarteng from her cabinet, Truss also announced that the planned reverse to the rise in Corporation Tax rates to 25% from 1 April 2023 was to be reversed itself… a reverse of a reverse!
So, to be clear, from 1 April 2023, Corporation Tax rates are now expected once again to rise to 25% from the current level of 19%.
We expect that this will still align with the previous expectation that profits up to £50,000 will continue to be taxable at 19%, with profits above £250,000 attracting the full increment of 25%. Profits in the middle will be taxed at a hybrid rate.
The Government has already announced they have scrapped their planned removal of the 45% rate for those earning over £150,000, but it looks like the Health and Social Care Levy of 1.25% is still expected to be removed from the 6 November.
