Long term solutions or sticking plasters?

Chancellor, George Osborne, delivered his latest Budget on 16 March in the midst of some uncertainty in the global marketplace. He adopted a bullish stance to illustrate the government’s track record to date and signalled his intentions for the rest of the Parliament. His “vote grabbing” measures included a proposed drop in corporation tax to 17% by 1 April 2020 and further clampdown on tax avoidance and evasion. Of course some of the bad news, for example future interest restrictions for property investors, and the new dividend tax from 6 April 2016 had been previously announced and were not reiterated in his speech.

Head of EQ Taxation, David Morrison, commented “this was a Budget where the Chancellor exercised caution in his giveaways, but thankfully he resisted wholesale changes to pensions, to capital gains tax (other than a welcomed reduction) and to inheritance tax. Further drops in corporation tax are to be welcomed together with the permanent retention of the Annual Investment Allowance of £200,000. This remains a challenging environment for business owners and individuals but a mixture of good advice and careful planning should allow our clients to proceed with enthusiasm and optimism”

To download a copy of the Budget summary, please click the link below and if you have any queries, please call any of our tax advisers in each of our offices or e mail taxation@eqaccountants.co.uk.

Spring-budget-2016