Energy Bill Relief Scheme for businesses to continue to end of March 2023, Chancellor confirms

The new Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, has confirmed in a statement that the Energy Bill Relief Scheme for businesses will continue to the end of March 2023 as planned.

However, the Chancellor has ordered a Treasury-led review into how to provide energy support to individuals and businesses from April 2023. The Chancellor stated that support should be targeted to businesses that need help most. Businesses are being urged to complete the government’s survey here.

Mr Hunt’s statement included several other announcements regarding last month’s mini-budget.

The Chancellor also announced that:

• The basic rate of income tax, which was due to be cut to 19%, will now remain at 20%
• The scrapping of the rise to corporation tax has been abandoned. Corporation tax will rise to 25% in April 2023
• Reforms to IR35, off-payroll employee pay, and dividend tax reforms have been dropped
• The introduction of VAT-free shopping for tourists visiting the UK has been scrapped
• The freezing of alcohol duty rates has been scrapped
• The 1.25% rise to National Insurance Contributions, to fund the Health and Social Care Levy, will be dropped as planned
• The Annual Investment Allowance, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and Company Share Options Plan will go ahead as planned

The Chancellor will publish the government’s fiscal rules with an OBR forecast, and further economic measures on 31st October 2022.

In his statement, the Chancellor said:

"Any support for businesses will be targeted to those most affected and the new approach will better incentivise energy efficiency."

"The most important objective for our country right now is stability. Governments cannot eliminate volatility in markets, but they can play their part, and we will do so because instability affects the prices of things in shops, the cost of mortgages, and the values of pensions."

"There will be more difficult decisions, I'm afraid, on both tax and spending as we deliver our commitment to get debt falling as a share of the economy over the medium term."

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