Just a week after the Budget, the Chancellor confirmed in a letter to the Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, that the planned increases in NIC for the self-employed announced on Budget Day will not proceed. The changes were expected to raise over £2 billion in additional revenues by 2022. How will this gap be filled?

The planned rise in Class 4 NICs for the self-employed will not now go ahead as both the Chancellor and the Prime Minister wished to remain “compliant not just with the letter, but also the spirit, of the commitments that were made…..There will be no increase in NICs rates in this parliament”.

In his letter, the Chancellor went on to reiterate his commitment to reform in the area of how work is taxed once the Taylor review on modern working practices is delivered in the summer.