Queen?s Speech confirms new tax legislation

27 May 2015

There were no revelations in the Queen’s Speech, more just confirmation of the personal allowance increases and the guarantee of no Income Tax, VAT or NI increases in the next 5 years.

The Queen’s Speech takes place at the start of each Parliamentary session and sets out the government’s policies and proposed legislative programme for the new session.

The government has already committed to raising the income tax personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020.

The Queen’s Speech confirmed that legislation will be brought forward to ensure people working 30 hours a week on the National Minimum Wage do not pay income tax. The legislation will also ensure that future increases to the personal allowance reflect changes to the National Minimum Wage.

The government will also bring forward legislation for a 5 year tax lock which means there will be no Income Tax, VAT or National Insurance rises in this Parliament.

Measures will be brought forward to help working people by greatly increasing the provision of free childcare.

On the subject of devolution, legislation will be introduced to provide for the devolution of powers to cities with elected metro mayors, helping to build a northern powerhouse. The government will also bring forward legislation to secure a strong and lasting constitutional settlement, devolving wide-ranging powers to Scotland and Wales. Legislation will be taken forward giving effect to the Stormont House Agreement (an agreement on key issues) in Northern Ireland.

CIPP comment We didn’t expect there to be any detail in the Queen’s Speech and it really just was confirmation of the key policies laid out in the Conservative’s manifesto. As previously announced the chancellor will be delivering a Summer Budget on 8 July which is when we will find out if there any hidden complexities for employers and the payroll profession to deal with. We will keep you posted.