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The 12% to 10% employees national insurance rate cut first announced in the Autumn Statement came into effect in January. This means that many employees will have seen a boost in their take home pay in their January pay packet.
HM Revenue and Customs launched a tool (https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/estimate-jan-24-nic-changes) that enabled workers to estimate how the changes will affect them.
The government is naturally keen to emphasise its generosity in this measure and have claimed that a household with two average earners will be starting to see a yearly benefit from the cut of almost £1,000. Naturally, how much benefit earners actually receive will depend on how near the average their earnings are.
The rate reduction only applies to employees’ national insurance, and not employers’ national insurance. This means there is no direct saving for businesses. However, with many businesses under stress to grant pay rises that will combat the increasing cost of living, the reduction may prove to be a helpful component of pay strategy.
See: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-national-insurance-contributions-from-6-january-2024
“Owners of dodgy shops that are evading tax: we are coming for you,” said Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, as he announced that HMRC will make 30,000 high-street ‘interventions’ in the coming year as part of an initiative to tackle tax fraud and illegal activity.
The announcement of mandatory payrolling for Benefits In Kind was originally expected to start in April 2027, but following industry pressure, it will now be introduced in two phases.