18th March 2016 Posted by - Alexander Accountancy
I like George Osborne, he makes me laugh. When he was stood outside No. 11 showing off his little red box, I thought it was very endearing. It even made me think he might be auditioning for the next series of Black Adder.
Fortunately I was able to watch most of the Budget. Lots of headlines and PR, a bit of slight of hand with timing issues, some smoke & mirrors, and a couple of stealth taxes slid under the radar. Not to mention the usual bit of cronyism.
I remember sitting there when he made the Capital Gains Tax announcement thinking, where did that one come from, and why?
Obviously the commentators missed a lot of the more significant issues for the SME business community as we are not really their daytime television target audience. We are too busy working, generating wealth, providing jobs, paying taxes and all that other boring stuff. Why should we be important?
What did I think of the Budget? Primarily from an accounting and tax advice point of view, that it should not be looked at in isolation. A lot of the announcements on subjects relevant to us overlap with previous, and presumably future, announcements.
I will be presenting a review specifically for the small business community at Burton Business Club on Tuesday 12th April 2016. Please click on the button below to book.
There were a few double take moments where I was questioning if Mr Osborne had actually said what I thought I had heard. Isn’t the new Lifetime Individual Savings Account age discriminatory and therefore illegal?
There were some repeat announcements regarding legislation that has been in the pipeline for a number of years, and the usual muddying of the water between tax avoidance and evasion. Although this did cover some serious remuneration planning issues, that again will be covered at Burton Business Club.
There was also a certain amount of managing expectations that made me smile. Particularly with regard to us trading in an international community, how events abroad affect domestic performance, and how the Chancellor cannot control or be held responsible for foreign events.
I thought that was Gordon Brown’s get out of jail card.
But seriously, an article of this size is much too small to offer anything but passing, sometimes tongue in cheek, comments. So if you would like to be part of the serious review, please join me at Burton Business Club on Tuesday 12th April 2016, at Branston Golf and Country Club.
If you’re concerned how the budget may impact on your business, please contact us on Burton upon Trent 01283 743851 or email in**@al*******************.uk
