Spring Budget 2024: further tax relief changes "when fiscal conditions" allow for Life Sciences businesses

Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget 2024 has not revealed any new significant changes to relevant tax reliefs following his Autumn Statement in 2023, where he introduced a number of new measures aimed at supporting the UK’s most innovative industries which depend so heavily on investment, research and development in the UK.

The headline corporation tax rate of 25% is here to stay, but the UK should still remain one of the most competitive tax regimes in the G7 with a permanent full expensing, 100% first year allowance which allows UK companies to write off the full cost of qualifying main rate plant and machinery in the first year of investment. There is also a 50% first year allowance for special rate (including long life) assets. Further commentary can be found here.

Although the Spring Budget provided no significant developments relating to the life sciences sector from a tax perspective, the government did announce that they will publish draft legislation to extend full expensing to assets for leasing shortly, and that full expensing will be extended to assets for leasing when fiscal conditions allow. It remains to be seen when fiscal conditions will allow that.

In the meantime, together with the announcement that competitions will soon be opening for large scale transformational investments, the latest Budget shows that the government is keen for the UK to be an open and attractive place for life sciences businesses, and there are attractive tax reliefs in place for those who wish to invest.