Another chancellor and another budget, but as always the devil is in the detail. Read on for my take on this years budget and how it will affect my clients
The budget this year appears to have been written with a large part on the hoof with due consideration given to the corona virus. But there were still some meaty morsels for us accountants to get our teeth into.
So firstly the corona virus. The chancellor announced an extension to sick pay for any employers with less than 250 staff able to reclaim statutory sick pay in full for staff off due to corona virus and ssp paid from day one.
There was also a 12-month business rates holiday, which has been extended from retail businesses to the leisure and hospitality sectors.
Aside from business rates, Sunak asked HMRC to scale up its time to pay facility to help businesses and self-employed people in financial distress defer tax payments over an agreed period of time.
Sadly there was precious little clarification on IR35.
A wide concern over the likelihood of entrepreneurs’ relief being scrapped entirely was relieved by a “sensible reform” in reducing the lifetime limit from £10m to £1m.
There were also giveaways on R&D and an increase in the NI threshold to £9,500 which will save employees £104 per annum and the self employed £78 per annum.
Pension taper relief received a welcome boost it’s a shame taper relief wasn’t scrapped altogether.
No surprises with corporation tax staying at 19%.
There's no duty on spirits, beer, wine and scotch, at least until the Coronavirus scare goes away, the abolition of the tampon tax, and no further stamp duty land tax hikes for UK buy-to-let landlords.
Gov't pledges to meet commitment to raising income tax personal allowance to £12,500 and the higher threshold to £50,000 by end of this parliament. Once it reaches £12,500, it will rise in line with CPI.
So then a budget of giveaways. With little detail on how the chancellor will balance the books, if the economy doesn’t grow as planned, and there is a very real danger of that with the corona virus.