Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Spring Statement to parliament against a backdrop of a fall in CPI inflation (down to 2.8% in February) and progressive fiscal progress as forecasted by the OBR (The Office for Budget Responsibility). Upon closer inspection though the economic growth predicted will be in the longer term as the growth percentage will be half as that expected for this year.
Despite reforms planned by the Government on a national level — such as changes to the welfare system — the Chancellor announced no plans to provide financial relief for UK businesses ahead of the overhaul to the tax system due to come into force next month. Indeed, Chancellor Reeves seemed focussed on tackling tax evasion via investment in technology to counteract tax fraud.
However, there were no tax increases announced in this Spring Statement. Hopefully this trend will continue due to the Government’s fiscal headroom having been restored and thereby giving the Government more leeway to cut taxes in the Budget later this year.
Chancellor Reeves will deliver a full Budget later this year as per the Government’s commitment to having one major fiscal event annually. In the meantime, if you would like to get more of an understanding of how this Spring Statement affects you and your business, please click on the thumbnail below to access WHA’s Spring Statement Summary.
As always, the WHA Team are on hand to help you understand how the Chancellor’s announcements impact both your personal circumstances and business operations, so please feel free to contact us on 020 8878 8383 or via email on info@whitehartassociates.com.
