Budget News

Today, 3rd March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced his 2021 Budget. 

Here are the key notes that we think might be of interest to equestrian employers and businesses:

• The Furlough scheme is being extended until the end of September
• 100% business rates holiday will continue to the end of June and for the remaining nine months of the year, they will be cut by two thirds, up to a value of £2m per business
• Doubling apprentice incentive payment to £3,000 for all new hires, of any age
• £126m to be spent on tripling the number of traineeships
• National Living Wage rises to £8.91 an hour from April, and NMW rises too
• Personal tax threshold will be frozen until April 2026 at £12,570
• £100m Tax Payer Protecting Taskforce - HMRC investment with over 1000 more investigators to clamp down on tax avoidance and evasion
• VAT registration threshold remains at £85k for two years
• 2023 rate of Corporation tax on company profits to increase to 25% (lots of details regarding this – unlikely to affect most equestrian businesses as effects the larger more profitable companies)
• 19% small profit rates for small businesses
• Restart Grants - up to £18,000 per premises for leisure, giving them the cash certainty they need to plan ahead and safely relaunch trading over the coming months. It is essentially a support package aimed at helping businesses that have had to close due to lockdown restrictions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This could be a lifeline for some riding schools and you should apply via your local council. 
  The criteria is that: 
  1. The business is based in England
  2. Occupies property on which it pays business rates (and is the ratepayer)
  3. Has been required to close because of the national lockdown from 5 January 2021 onwards, or between 5 November and 2 December 2020
  4. Has been unable to provide its usual in-person customer service from its premises
  

   

There is far more detail to many of these policies and  you can read the 2021 Budget Red Book here or the 'what you need to know here'

The Equestrian Employers Association is here to support equestrian businesses, we understand the challenges, discover how we can help you.