Business Groups give mixed response to budget

On 27 October, Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered a Budget to ensure the UK economy bounces back following the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The chancellor announced that total department spending will grow by £150 billion per year in cash terms by 2024/25, marking the largest real-term increase in overall departmental spending for any Parliament this century. Public research and development (R&D) investment will increase to a record level of £20 billion by 2024/25. Combined with R&D tax reliefs, which the government intends…

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has predicted that millions of people will be worse off in 2022 as a result of spiralling costs and tax rises. Responding to the Autumn Budget, the IFS predicted that low-income families will be squeezed by a rise in the cost of living. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) recently warned that the costs of living are set to rise at their fastest rate in 30 years. The IFS stated changes to income tax…

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has warned that tax rises could threaten the UK’s ongoing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the FSB, small businesses are coming up against, with the cost of doing higher than ever. Small businesses are also being affected by disruption to supply chains and increasing costs, the business group said. Following the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, it has called for the government to focus on helping employers create jobs. The…

Businesses that are planning to operate in the UK’s new freeports can now apply to HMRC. The tax authority has published the application forms to operate special customs procedures within the sites, along with further guidance on procedures for declaring goods moving into and out of sites. Freeports are areas that benefit from a range of tax and other incentives, including a suspension from customs duties for imported goods and less burdensome customs procedures. HMRC is now accepting applications to…

Pensions experts say a minimum of £10,900 a year needed to retire A single person will need a post-tax annual income of £10,900 for a minimum standard of living in retirement, according to the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) The minimum retirement living standard is based on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s Minimum income standard and covers a typical retiree’s basic needs plus enough for some social activities, such as a week of holiday in the UK, eating out once…

Heat pump grants worth £5,000 will help replace gas boilers Homeowners in England and Wales will be offered subsidies of £5,000 from next April to help them to replace old gas boilers with low carbon heat pumps. The grants are part of the government’s £3.9 Billion plan to reduce carbon emissions caused by heating homes and other buildings, it is hoped no new gas boilers will be sold after 2035. The funding is also to make social housing and public…