Key points affecting small and medium-sized firms and the self-employed include:

Investment and productivity

• A £400 million Digital Infrastructure Investment Fund will launch in spring 2017 to accelerate the deployment of full-fibre broadband networks.
• The National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF) will invest £740 million in digital infrastructure by 2020/21.
• The NPIF will provide £250 million of investment to support the development of highly skilled research talent.
• A further £40 million will be made available to test different approaches to help people to retrain and upskill through their working lives, while a £5 million fund will support people who have taken career breaks back into work.

Business growth and support

• A new £270 million Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund will support the development of disruptive technologies, particularly robots, driverless cars and biotechnology.
• Further details of the Midlands Engine Strategy and measures to support the development of the Northern Powerhouse are to be published shortly.
• The Government will make changes to the Research and Development Expenditure Credit to increase the certainty and simplicity around claims, and will take action to improve awareness of R&D tax credits among small firms.
• A review will explore access to long-term capital for high-growth firms, as well as the effectiveness of existing tax reliefs aimed at encouraging investment and entrepreneurship.

Taxation

• From April 2018, Class 2 National Insurance contributions will be abolished. The main rate of Class 4 National Insurance contributions for the self-employed will increase from 9% to 10% from April 2018, and to 11% from April 2019.
• From April 2018, the dividend allowance will be reduced from £5,000 to £2,000.
• As announced in the 2016 Budget, the main rate of corporation tax will be reduced to 19% in 2017 and to 17% in 2020.
• Small businesses and landlords with a turnover below the VAT threshold will have until April 2019 before the requirements of Making Tax Digital are mandatory.
• The turnover threshold for which co-operatives are required to carry out a full audit will increase from £5.6 million to £10.2 million, and the assets threshold from £2.8 million to £5.1 million.
• The Government will consult on changes to benefits in kind for employees and employee expenses.

Business rates

• From 1 April 2017, transitional relief for small businesses losing Small Business Rate Relief will be introduced, meaning their business rates bill will not increase by more than £50 per month.
• Pubs in England with a rateable value of up to £100,000 will receive a £1,000 business rates discount from 1 April 2017.
• A new £300 million discretionary relief fund will be set up to support businesses affected by the revaluation of commercial properties.

Consumer law

• The Government will bring forward a Green Paper to examine the markets that are not working effectively or fairly for consumers.
• Consumer enforcement bodies will be granted the power to ask courts to order civil fines against traders that break consumer law.
• The Green Paper will explore how to make terms and conditions clearer, simpler and shorter for consumers.

The Chancellor's speech in full and the Spring Budget documents are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spring-budget-2017-documents

To read the Federation of Small Businesses' reaction, go to:
http://www.fsb.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/immediate-budget-reaction-from-fsb

To read the British Chambers of Commerce's reaction, go to:
http://www.britishchambers.org.uk/press-office/press-releases/british-chambers-of-commerce-full-reaction-to-spring-budget-2017.html

To read the reaction of IPSE (the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self-Employed), go to:
https://www.ipse.co.uk/news/self-employed-hit-hard-budget-tax-rises