• Lee Murphy, Owner at Pandle


• 09.03.2017 10:00 am
Scuppered by Spring Budget

Despite the pound hitting a seven-week low in anticipation of the Spring Budget, Hammond’s plans to bolster the UK economy in light of Brexit are encouraging. By lowering corporate tax to 19% from April this year, the UK will enjoy the lowest corporate tax rate in the G20 and it’s likely that we’ll maintain this lead as the rate will fall to 17% by 2020. This should scupper the fears that businesses won’t be looking to set up in the UK once we leave the EU as we’ll continue to foster a healthy environment for businesses to prosper.

Building upon this, the news that business rates will be cut by £435 million is to be welcomed by the business community. By providing SMEs a deal like this, the Government is safeguarding against any potential hindrance of growth as we enter Brexit negotiations, and furthermore, the measures will allow these enterprises to thrive and contribute much more to the economy as they expand.

Additionally, quarterly reporting will be delayed for businesses with a turnover below the VAT threshold. This announcement was somewhat expected given how rushed Making Tax Digital has been, and as businesses which are VAT registered currently report quarterly anyway, this delay will be a great way to test out the new system before smaller businesses are tasked with the challenge of implementing it into their operations.