On March 6, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt will present the Government’s spending plans for the years ahead in the Spring Budget 2024.

Ahead of the announcement, the British Beauty Council has submitted the below proposals to Government to support the growth and innovation of the sector

Each year, the government updates the public on the state of the UK economy in its Spring Budget. On top of sharing projections made by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the announcement uncovers the Exchequer’s fiscal strategy for the year ahead.

The Spring Budget 2024 is set to have some vote-winning giveaways as well as some financial ‘ticking time-bombs’ for the next Government to navigate given the looming election.

As part of its work to increase the Government’s awareness of the opportunities and challenges facing the beauty industry, the British Beauty Council has set out five proposals in its submission to the Spring Budget.

What has the British Beauty Council asked for in its Spring Budget 2024 submission?

Enabling of onshoring and greening of UK manufacturing, by:
– offering capital investment to encourage new business start-ups across beauty manufacturing, particularly in areas of creativity and innovation;
– providing greater education and incentivisation to SMEs to make sound ‘green’ investment in business operations.

Amendments to current labour taxation to incentivise apprenticeship offering, such as:
– increasing the current HMRC Employment Allowance to £8,000 (from £5,000) for SME businesses with apprentices;
– making training in new areas of business tax-deductible whether employed or self-employed.

The introduction of tax-free shopping for overseas visitors to demonstrate the UK is open to the world as a retail destination.
– the Council is working hard to lobby for the introduction of tax-free shopping, you can find out more here.

A review of existing VAT policy in order to encourage SME growth and address almost half of hair and beauty services sitting in 50-99k turnover band (47%), more than double the economy average (22.5%). The Council’s suggestions include:
– cutting the rate of VAT for the hair and beauty services sector;
– raising the VAT threshold from £85,000 to £100,000 across the whole economy;
– applying a smoothing mechanism to reduce the initial impact of VAT liabilities on SMEs.

The continuation of 75% business rate relief for our sector, alongside retail, hospitality and leisure industries post the 2024/2025 financial year.

You can download the British Beauty Council’s full submission to the Spring Budget 2024 here.