Autumn Budget Summary 2018 – Austerity no more?

Category: Taxation - Posted On: Oct 30 2018


“Spreadsheet Phil” delivered his Budget address yesterday afternoon, with a clear health warning that it was based on a decent Brexit deal being secured.

The end of austerity was proudly announced and the Chancellor headlined measures such as the extension of the Annual Investment Allowance to £1m for capital expenditure (for two years from 1 January 2019) and the acceleration of the previously announced personal allowance and basic rate thresholds to £12,500 and £50,000 respectively with effect from 6 April 2019. For those of us in Scotland, we await Finance Secretary, Derek MacKay’s address in December but there is no doubt there will be pressure to provide Scottish workers the same benefits as their English counterparts.

Personal service companies and residential property landlords took yet another hit with announcements yesterday and for those potentially looking to sell their businesses, the ownership criteria increasing to 2 years, from 1 year, needs to be borne in mind.

Head of EQ Taxation, David Morrison, commented, “Yesterday’s speech from the Chancellor would broadly be welcomed by businesses and there is no doubt he wanted to be seen to be giving away some of the savings secured in the past 8 years. Call me cynical but I smell the murmurings of a general election!”

For our full analysis of the Autumn Budget 2018, please download our Budget Summary or contact our taxation team with your query via taxation@eqaccountants.co.uk.