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The Chancellor has announced two key changes for capital investments and changes to the taxation of electric cars
Changes to capital investment are:
- From 1 April 2026 for corporation tax and 6 April 2026 for income tax, main rate writing-down allowances will reduce from 18% to 14%.
- From 1 January 2026 a new first-year allowance of 40% for main-rate assets is introduced to preserve the incentives to invest. Cars, second-hand assets and assets for leasing overseas will not be eligible.
- From April 2028, a new mileage charge for electric and plug-in hybrid cars is introduced, called Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED). Drivers will pay for their mileage on a per-mile basis alongside their existing Vehicle Excise Duty. Electric cars will pay half the equivalent fuel duty rate for petrol and diesel cars, and plug-in hybrid cars will pay a reduced rate equivalent to half of the electric car rate.
The government has published a consultation which provides further detail on how eVED will work and seeks views on its implementation. The consultation will remain open until 18 March 2026.
Other changes announced included:
- Employee car-ownership schemes are delayed and will now be brought in the scope of benefit in kind rules from 6 April 2030, with transitional arrangements until April 2031.
- First-year 100% allowances for zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) and chargepoints is extended to 31 March 2027 for corporation tax purposes and 5 April 2027 for income tax purposes.