As the dust settles on another UK Budget speech we take a look at what it could mean for entrepreneurs, start-ups and SMEs.
Have your say in the poll below to let us know what you think.
With the Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth forecasts revised down for the next five years, George Osborne vowed to ‘put the next generation first’ in his eighth Budget, one that is designed to also ‘help small businesses’.
In the face of the economy performing worse now than it was forecast to do just four months ago, Carolyn Fairbairn Director-General, CBI said that “this was a stable Budget for businesses facing global stormy waters” and that “the reduction in the headline Corporation Tax rate sends out a strong signal that the UK is open for global business investment.”
Key Budget points that will affect the future of SMEs in the UK:
Headline rate of corporate tax – currently 20% – to fall to 17% by 2020
When the Conservatives came to power, the corporation tax stood at 28%. By April 2020 that rate will have fallen to 17%, one of the lowest in Europe and comfortably below the global average.
Annual threshold for small business tax relief to be raised from £6,000 to a maximum of £15,000, exempting 600,000 firms
From next April those 600,000 small businesses are expected to see an annual saving of £6,000.
Reforms to business rates will also mean 6,000 small businesses pay no rates and 250,000 have their rates cuts from April 2017.
Insurance Premium Tax to rise to 10%
While fuel duty was frozen again, the cost of running vehicles on UK roads will still rise with the 0.5% (now up 6% from November 2015) increase to the Insurance Premium Tax, ensuring that a number of forms of insurance, including motor insurance and breakdown cover, will become more expensive.
Commercial stamp duty 0% rate on purchases up to £150,000, 2% on next £100,000 and 5% top rate above £250,000. New 2% rate for high-value leases with a net present value above £5m.
Around 90% of small businesses are set to benefit from the lower stamp duty on commercial property as the Chancellor aims to reform stamp duty in the commercial sector in the same way that he has done for residential property at the end of 2014.
Let us know what you think this Budget means for SMEs in the UK
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