The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has delivered his Spring Budget today. With an imminent General Election, he has clearly made some significant political moves to try to influence voters. He was keen to make sure all of the positive achievements were mentioned.
There was more heckling in the Chamber than usual, but also a raft of announcements across a variety of taxes and it was challenging to keep up with all the measures in the end.
With growth in GDP set to reach 2.2% in three years’ time, there still is some work to do. Mr Hunt suggested the UK was one of the best performing economies, but that should be also be compared to the 5% Growth target China is seeking to achieve in 2024.
There were some novel ideas to encourage UK investment, not least a new UK ISA with its own allowance of £5,000 a year in addition to the current £20,000 allowance, albeit the government will consult on the details with a view to implementing at a later date.
In addition, the newly permanent “full expensing” relief will be extended to include leased assets “as soon as it is affordable”.
Our summaries of some of the specific policies and changes announced should be a useful reference point for understanding the impact of the changes.
If you have any questions for our Tax experts as a result of this Budget, please contact us on 01242 776000 or tax@randall-payne.co.uk.
