For non-residential property, stamp duty on freehold commercial property and leasehold premium transactions currently applies to the whole transaction value. From 17 March 2016, the rates will apply to the value of the property over each tax band.
The new rates and tax bands will be 0% for non-residential properties up to £150,000; 2% between £150,001 and £250,000; and 5% above £250,000.
Insurance premium rise
The standard rate of insurance premium tax is to rise by half a percentage point, with the chancellor committing all of the extra money to raise flood defence spending.
“Bookmakers and Insurance companies will both be breathing a sigh of relief with no additional taxes for the former and only a 0.5% increase on insurance premiums. The market had expected approximately a 3% increase,” said Guy Ellison, head if UK equities at Investec Wealth & Investment.
Corporation tax
The main rate of corporation tax will be lowered to 17% by 2020. Already the lowest in the G20 at 20%, an estimated one million businesses are expected to benefit.
“Evidence shows that it’s one of the most distortive and unproductive taxes there is,” Osborne said. “All of these reforms to corporation tax will help create a modern tax code that better reflects the reality of the globe economy.”
“It will deliver a low tax regime that will attract the multinational businesses we want to see in Britain, but ensure that they pay taxes here too. And it will level the playing field, which has been tilted against our small firms,” he added.
Tax evasion windfall
“Taken altogether, the further steps in this budget to stop tax evasion, prevent tax avoidance, and tackle imbalances in the system, will raise £12bn for our country over this parliament,” Osborne announced.
