This afternoon’s Budget has some “positive news” for local businesses, according to Winter Rule partner Scott Bentley.
He said: “The additional 1% cut in corporation tax is welcome but we need to remember that nothing here has altered the upcoming changes to capital allowances for business, reducing both the initial and ongoing reliefs for capital investment that take effect in April 2012.
“I am interested in the merger of the income tax and national insurance systems which has to make sense, but this is a significant undertaking as indicated by the Chancellor saying it needed to be implemented over a period of years. If it can be achieved in a fair and sensible way then it could massively simplify tax compliance for employers in particular. However, as a region with a large number of pensioners who do not currently pay national insurance they will be concerned as to how this is implemented.
“There has been a push towards a knowledge based economy in the south west and we have some fantastic businesses leading the way in the green technology sector and so the announcement increasing the rate of Research and Development tax credit are welcome to assist what is an important sector for the region’s growth.
“This sector is important because we a fantastic environment and climate for certain green technologies such as power generation from wind, solar and wave power.
“Anything that reduces the cost of fuel has to be good news so I welcome those but remain concerned that the fuel price is still extremely high, impacting on everyone in the region and also making it just that bit more expensive for the average tourist to visit.
“Also whilst I have yet to go through the detailed press releases I did not hear anything that told me that there was any change of heart on the reform of the rules on Furnished Holiday lets and in particular the extremely restrictive rules on the use of losses from such as trade.”
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