In the Budget the Chancellor challenged business. He has challenged it to invest, to export, to build the economy.
In return, he has set out the further actions the government will take in order to help to build the appropriate environment. These are:
- a stable economy
- a fairer, more efficient and simple tax system
- reforms to support growth.
So has business received the help it needs?
It has received a Finance Bill that runs to 227 clauses and 38 schedules, which is the longest Finance Bill on record, and also has been promised a number of consultations on key areas.
The bill includes clauses and schedules detailing:
- basic information like the tax rate changes;
- support for business, including patents, R&D and REITS;
- three enterprise initiatives - Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), Venture Capital Trusts and Enterprise Investment Scheme; These are useful changes to help incentivise further investment in business. For example, the SEIS provisions provide that the investment relief is a reduction of income tax calculated as 50 per cent of the amount the investor subscribes for shares. This is subject to an overall limit of 50 per cent of £100,000 on the amount of relief that can be received in any one year;
- the changes to capital allowances;
- Schedule 48 highlights employer asset-backed pension contribution changes, which apply retrospectively and have been highlighted in earlier issues of A&B.
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