THOUSANDS of construction SMEs could be set to pay no levy at all for 2021-22, under new Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) proposals submitted to the UK Government.
Under the proposals, the small business levy exemption threshold for employers with wage bills of less than £80,000 is set to be raised to £120,000 – removing 5,000 smaller businesses from paying the CITB levy next year.
The industry training board confirmed that companies who don’t have to pay the levy will still be eligible to claim CITB grants and support for their training.
The proposals come following discussions held earlier in the year with industry leaders, stakeholders and a cross section of construction employers on industry priorities and funding.
CITB said that consultation showed that 85% of employers supported an option to increase the levy exemption threshold. Approximately 35,000 employers are already exempt from paying levy under the current system, with the proposed threshold increase taking this up to 40,000.
CITB also confirmed its proposals to halve levy rates in 2021-22, cutting next year’s Levy bills by 50%. The proposed rates are PAYE at 0.175% and Net CIS at 0.625%.
Steve Radley, CITB policy director, said, “Taking 5,000 of the smaller employers out of Levy payment is another measure to help deliver on our priority to help employers stabilise and then return to growth.
“We are pleased to confirm that we have submitted proposals to halve Levy rates for next year. Later this month we will publish our Strategic Plan that will set out how we plan to invest the Levy to support the recovery.”
