After months of speculation, now we know. The Prime Minister has called a snap General Election for Thursday 4th July. We at Goodman Jones will be keeping a close eye on developments throughout the campaign. Whilst we are still waiting for news of manifesto pledges and detail on policy, we do have some information to share at this stage:
Timeframes
24 May – completion of ‘wash-up’ period to deal with extant legislation and prorogation of Parliament. Bills, including the Finance (No2) Bill 2024 will either be fast tracked through Parliament on the basis of agreement between all Parties, or will be dropped. The Finance Bill had its third reading on 23 May and is likely to be passed as it stands. Details included are income tax and Corporation Tax rates for the current tax year 2024/25, SDLT and CGT measures on property, and creative reliefs
- 30 May – dissolution of Parliament followed by election campaign of 25 working days before Election Day
- 4 July – General Election
- 9 July – New Parliament will meet for first time
- 17 July – Expected date for State Opening of Parliament
What do we know about policies?
Conservatives
At the Spring Budget, the Conservatives announced a 2% cut to employee National Insurance rates. Changes to the taxation of non-domiciled individuals were also announced, as set out in our article .
Labour
In an interview on 24 May, Keir Starmer confirmed that he would go ahead with the proposed introduction of VAT on private school fees as an immediate priority if Labour win the election. Other policies that have been mooted include the reintroduction of the Pension Lifetime Allowance, changes to the taxation of carried interest for the Private Equity sector, possible windfall taxes for energy companies and increases to SDLT rates for overseas property owners. A recent publication also proposes changes to the taxation of non-domiciled individuals which go further than those proposed by the Conservatives and may even extend to the inclusion of offshore trusts within the UK IHT net.
After the General Election
Following recent General Elections, the new Government has introduced legislation via an Emergency Budget. This may take place following the State Opening but may more likely take place when Parliament returns in the Autumn following the summer recess. Labour has already said that it would want to hold a single Budget each year in the autumn and so a September Budget would sit in line with this. The Autumn is also set to bring a Spending Review for the three years from April 2025 which should take place by November, whichever party wins the Election.
Check back to our website for new policy details, and in the meantime please feel free to get in touch with your usual Goodman Jones contact if you would like to discuss how announcements may impact you.
The information in this article was correct at the date it was first published.
However it is of a generic nature and cannot constitute advice. Specific advice should be sought before any action taken.
If you would like to discuss how this applies to you, we would be delighted to talk to you. Please make contact with the author on the details shown below.
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