On 14 March 2024, the UK HM Treasury declared that it had published the Spring Finance Bill (Finance No. 2 Bill). This bill includes various provisions concerning the Spring Budget 2024 and other related measures. The 2024 Spring Finance Bill aims to cut taxes for working families and boost the creative sector.
The key measures in the Bill include backing hard-working British families by increasing the threshold for the High Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC) from £50,000 to £60,000, taking 170,000 families out of paying this tax charge altogether. Changes to the HICBC also include halving the rate at which it is withdrawn, meaning parents will only have to pay the full charge at £80,000. Taken together, these changes mean that 485,000 hard-working families will gain an average of £1,260 a year towards raising their children in 2024-25.
The Bill will also help establish the UK as a world leader in high-growth industries, including introducing new investment incentives for the creative sector with over £1 billion of additional tax breaks. This includes measures for a permanent 40% tax relief for non-touring productions for theatres, museums and galleries and a 45% relief for touring and orchestral productions.
This is in addition to introducing a new UK Independent Film Tax Credit at a rate of 53%, a 40% relief on business rates bills for eligible film studios in England, as well as providing a 5% increase in tax credit for UK visual effects costs in film and high-end TV programs.
The 2024 Spring Finance Bill also reduces the higher rate of capital gains tax on residential property from 28% to 24%, incentivizing landlords and second homeowners to sell their properties and boost the housing market.