Stamp Duty | Sherie Griffiths

March 26, 2010

Budget 2010 – Good News For Some, But The Hard Decisions Are Yet To Be Made

Filed under: Branston Adams, Chartered & Certified Accountants, Business, Money — Tags: Abolition, Business Disposals, Certified Accountants, Duty Holiday, Finance Side, Financial Platform, First Time Buyers, Housing Market, Indexation, Investment Allowance, Isas, Lifetime Limit, Low Interest Rates, Nest Eggs, Pensioners, Personal Finance, Plant And Machinery, Stamp Duty, Strands, Welcome Announcements, Welcome Move — sheriegriffiths.com @ 9:47 am

From Branston Adams, Chartered & Certified Accountants, Surrey.

‘Budget 2010 – Securing the recovery’ is a strong title backed by the objective of building a strong economy and a fair society. This obviously cannot be achieved in one Budget especially one so close to the election.

There are both a few welcome announcements and a few concerns with the detail of the Budget, especially having looked at some of the notes. As with all Budgets further analysis will be needed to ensure the rhetoric is backed up by the detailed rules and implementation. We know that the Government needs to raise cash and provide a secure financial platform – this is an economic imperative.

Strands that are of interest include the extension of the stamp duty holiday for first time buyers until 25 March 2012, applicable to homes under £250,000. This is a welcome move to boost a housing market which may just be seeing signs of recovery. However a permanent abolition of this onerous tax would have shown real commitment to the future well-being of the housing market.

On the personal finance side, changes had been already announced with the recognition that savers and pensioners have suffered during this recession, with low interest rates whittling away at financial nest eggs. Tax free ISAs, with an annual £7,200 limit, will increase to £10,200. The new announcement linking ISA limits to indexation from 2011/12 will hopefully help savers and pensioners.

For those businesses that have money to invest, they will benefit from a range of allowances including the annual investment allowance. This has been doubled from £50,000 to £100,000 for expenditure incurred on plant and machinery.

Entrepreneurs will be pleased that the lifetime limit on business disposals has been increased to £2m. This is a good sensible change for business owners that makes the UK a better place for doing business.

To sum up, this was a Budget with a few pieces of good news for entrepreneurs and pensioners, but the hard decisions have been postponed. We now have to look forward to the General Election and maybe another Budget.

For a pdf or hard copy of our Budget summary and tax data card, please contact us.

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April 23, 2009

Was the Budget What You Were Expecting? – Darling Defiant in Face of Recession

Over the next few days, you’ll be able to read extracts from the budget report produced by Branston Adams (Chartered & Certified Accountants) – one of our professional members in Surrey. The full report covers:-

• Introduction & Highlights
• Income Tax and Personal Savings
• Capital Taxes
• Business Tax and Investment Incentives
• Tax and Travel
• Value Added Tax
• Duties
• Penalties Reform
• National Insurance Contributions (NICs)
• Other Measures
• What They Said
• My Key Budget Points
• 2009/10 Tax Calendar

For more information about any of the issues raised in the report, to find out how they affect you and your business or for a copy of the full report, please contact :-

Branston Adams
Suite 2, Victoria House, South Street, Farnham, Surrey. GU9 7QU
Tel: +44 (0) 1252 728 598 Fax: +44 (0) 1252 728 652
Email: paul@taxaccountancy.com
http://www.branstonadams.co.uk

Please note: while most taxation changes take effect from the start of the financial year, or tax year, some may not take effect until 2010 or later. Where relevant, details of these changes are included in the full report.

We start today with the “Introduction & Highlights”. Tomorrow’s post will include “Business Tax and Investment Incentives”.

Introduction & Highlights

Chancellor Alistair Darling has unveiled a series of measures aimed at tackling the ‘unprecedented economic crisis’. As widely anticipated, growth forecasts for 2009 have been revised down, with the economy expected to shrink by 3.5%; while borrowing forecasts have risen sharply to £175 billion. However, despite the economic gloom, the Chancellor asserted that the economy will recover, forecasting growth of 1.25% next year.

Key announcements include the introduction, from April 2010, of a 50% income tax rate for those earning more than £150,000 a year. The stamp duty land tax ‘holiday’ for residential properties valued at £175,000 or less willbe extended to the end of 2009. Measures for businesses include the introduction of a temporary 40% first year allowance and an extension of help for loss-making companies.

The Chancellor allocated £1 billion to tackle climate change, and announced a commitment to cut UK carbon emissions by 34% by 2020. The introduction of a ‘car scrappage’ scheme was also confirmed, offering £2,000 to people who trade in cars that are over 10 years old. Meanwhile, fuel duty will rise by 2p a litre from September 2009.

Other measures include an increase in the child element of Child Tax Credit from April 2010; credits towards the basic state pension for grandparents of working age who
care for their grandchildren; and a rise in the annual limit for ISAs to £10,200.

Budget Highlights

• 50% income tax for high earners
• 40% first year capital allowance
• Extension of trade loss carry back rules
• Extension of SDLT ‘holiday’
• Removal of higher rate tax
• Relief on pension contributions

Economic forecasts for 2009/10

• Inflation 1%
• Government spending £608 billion
• Growth -3.5%
• Government receipts £496 billion
• Net Borrowing £175 billion
• Public Sector Year End Net Debt £792 billion

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