Chancellor Outlines Business & Self-Employed Tax Cuts

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt outlines tax cuts for businesses and the self-employed:

• On business rates: "....the standard multiplier, which applies to high-value properties, will rise in line with inflation, [but] I have today decided that we will freeze the small business multiplier for a further year. [...] I have also decided to extend the 75% business rates discount for Retail Hospitality and Leisure businesses for another year too...at a cost of £4.3bn, it is a large tax cut "
• On National Insurance cut for the self-employed: "...we are abolishing Class 2 National Insurance altogether, saving the average self-employed person £192 a year...[the self employed] pay Class 4 National Insurance at 9% on all earnings between £12,570 and £50,270. Today, I have decided to cut that tax by 1 percentage point to 8% from April."
• On business investment: "...this Spring, I introduced “full expensing” for three years. This means that for every million pounds a company invests, they get £250,000 off their tax bill in the very same year. [...] I will today make full expensing permanent. This is the largest business tax cut in modern British history...The OBR say it will increase annual investment by around £3 bn a year and a total of £14 bn over the forecast period."