The 2021 Spring Budget and What it Means for Freelancers

2021 Budget Announcement

Yesterday we heard Chancellor Rishi Sunak announce the budget outlining the additional support for UK businesses affected by the pandemic. There’s a 3 part plan;

1. Support the British people and businesses through this moment of crisis
2. Begin fixing the public finances
3. Begin the work of building our future economy

The good news is that the Office for Budget Responsibility are now forecasting, in their words: “A swifter and more sustained recovery” than they expected in November and they expect the economy to return to its pre-covid level by the middle of next year.’’

Welcome news for all business owners and the public alike.

But how does the announcement affect UK Freelancers and what do they need to know?

Freelance Heroes member, Alexis from The Lex Approach, gives us the highlights; 

• Self employed support will continue until September with follow on grants available;
  • A fourth grant covering the period February to April which will will provide three months of support at 80% of average trading profits
  • A fifth and final grant from May onwards where people will continue to receive grants worth three months of average profits
  • People whose turnover has fallen by 30% or more will continue to receive the full 80% grant.
• NEW!!! Self-employed scheme update;
  • When the scheme was launched, newly self-employed couldn’t qualify because they hadn’t all filed the 2019-20 tax return. However, provided you have filed a tax return as by midnight on Tuesday night, you can now claim the fourth and fifth grants.
• The furlough scheme, remaining at 80% of the employees salary, will be extended until the end of September.
• The Universal Credit uplift of £20 a week will continue for a further six months and Working Tax Credit claimants provided with equivalent support for the next six months. As Rishi states ‘because of the way that system works operationally, we will need to do so with a one-off payment of £500.’
• Increase to the National Living Wage to £8.91 from April.
• There is a whole host of new announcements in the budget so if you’d like to read more or find the detail of the above, click here. 

Discover more helpful snippets at Alexis’ blog.

Author Bio

Alexis from The Lex Approach. Bookkeeper and Business Consultant. Champion of small business owners and freelancers.

Find Alexis on her website and connect with her on Twitter.