Managing Partners at Haines Watts North East, Donna Bulmer, and Haines Watts Leeds, James Sutton, looks at the headline announcements and implications from the 2018 Budget:
“Chancellor Philip Hammond today announced a budget intended to be for ‘the strivers, the grafters and the carers’. This led to a raft of announcements focused on NHS, housing and, crucially, SME businesses and entrepreneurship.
Extending start-up loan funding to 2021, and not abolishing entrepreneur’s relief but extending the minimum qualifying period from 12 months to two years will provide a welcome boost. The annual investment allowance (AIA) will also rise from £200,000 to £1 million for two years. This allows businesses to benefit from a deduction of the full cost of qualifying additions in year (up to £1 million), giving businesses the opportunity to gain full relief in the year they make investments.
From October 2018, businesses will also be able to deduct 2% of the cost of any new non-residential structures and buildings from their profits before they pay tax. Plans to cut the apprenticeship levy in half – from 10% to 5% – for some employers will be well received, and £1bn of business bank guarantees to revive SME house builders, coupled with £675m of co-funding to invest in improvements and re-development of high streets and housing development could also have significant effects on the shape of struggling local high streets.
We’ve also got a commemorative 50p coin to look forward to! So far, so encouraging…”
Haines Watts is a leading advisor to owner-managed businesses in the UK. The firm provides ambitious business owners with the tax, compliance, corporate finance, and strategic business advisory services they need to grow.
