WHAT DOES THE CHANCELLOR’S BUDGET MEAN FOR YOU? March 23, 2011 CATHERINE GANNON, 48 MANAGING DIRECTOR OF CITY LAW FIRM GANNONS LAW LLP Catherine is single with two children, earns a gross income of over £100,000 a year and pays a mortgage on her family home. She has a share portfolio and also has mortgages on various investment properties. She does not drink or smoke. She [...]
Reforms cut £350m of red tape on firms March 23, 2011 A RAFT of micro reforms to planning laws and business regulation were introduced in the Budget to boost growth in UK enterprise yesterday. Key supply-side reforms included sweeping changes to planning laws, to wave through applications for sustainable development and tear up nationally-imposed targets on the use of brownfield land. “We will introduce a new [...]
Enterprise Zone a Royal opportunity March 23, 2011 If you haven’t been before, visiting the Royal Docks can be a real eye opener. In their heyday they were the world’s busiest docks, A century later, they are eerily quiet. The Royal Victoria, Royal Albert and King George V Docks are just to the east of the glittering towers of Canary Wharf. But with [...]
Science and vocational training in focus to boost workforce skills March 23, 2011 VOCATIONAL training and apprenticeships received a boost as chancellor George Osborne unlocked more funding yesterday. Admitting that the UK has a lower-skilled workforce than the US, Germany and France, Osborne said he would spend £180m to create up to 50,000 new apprenticeship places in the next four years. At least 24 new vocation-focused university technical [...]
TAXING VICES March 23, 2011 • In a bid to narrow the price between economy and premium cigarettes and support health goals, the government is loading duties on cheaper brands. Tobacco duty rates will rise two per cent above inflation, as was decided in last year’s Budget, but from 6pm last night economy cigarette packets went up 50p, while premium [...]
Switch to CPI to hit workers March 23, 2011 AN increase in personal income tax allowances could save basic rate earners £326 per year compared to what they are paying in tax today, but the benefits will be undermined by planned changes to how increases in tax thresholds are calculated. Chancellor George Osborne yesterday said the personal tax allowance would increase by £630 in [...]
Osborne targets £4bn from tax avoidance clampdown March 23, 2011 TAX avoiders skipping stamp duty on property purchases and tax on trusts funded by employers were targeted yesterday as the chancellor aims to recover £4bn in lost tax revenue. The chancellor is clamping down on house buyers’ use of sub-sale relief, alternative financing schemes and exchange of land rules to avoid paying stamp duty of [...]
HOUSING SUPPORT March 23, 2011 CHANGES TO STAMP DUTY LAND TAX ON BULK PURCHASES If the buyer chooses then the rate of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on properties can be determined by the mean value of the homes bought, rather than the aggregate value that is currently the case. This will be subject to a minimum rate of one [...]
Osborne puts the 50p top rate for high earners under review March 23, 2011 GEORGE Osborne yesterday confirmed that the 50p tax rate on high earners will stay in place for the time being, but reassured that it won’t exist for much longer. The chancellor said that he would consult HMRC to look at whether the high earner income tax was financially viable, or whether scrapping it would tempt [...]
Budget Special March 23, 2011 THE CBI The UK’s top business lobbying organisation. It aims to influence government policy on a wide range of business matters. DIRECTOR GENERAL JOHN CRIDLAND “The chancellor has made clear the UK is open for business. The extra 1p cut in corporation tax will help firms increase investment. Meanwhile, significant changes to entrepreneurs’ taxation will [...]
