Following the announcement that George Osborne will deliver another Budget on 8 July, a Nottingham taxation expert asks whether or not the Chancellor will keep his party’s election promises.
The Conservative manifesto included a number of measures to reform taxation in the UK, but it remains to be seen exactly what those plans will mean for businesses and individuals.
Simon Browning, tax partner at UHY Hacker Young in Nottingham, said: “The previous announcements from the Chancellor have been understandably understated and haven’t really given a huge amount away due to the pressure of a looming election, but that could be about to change.
“The party made a lot of promises in its manifesto about taxation and it will be very interesting to see how much they actually deliver on – and how that will impact on businesses and individuals in the East Midlands.
“For example, they outlined plans to limit pension tax relief for anyone earning more than £150,000 per year and have pledged to increase the inheritance tax threshold for married couples and civil partners to as much as £1m.
“They have also promised to continue their aggressive approach to tax evasion, but exactly how far that will go is yet to be seen.”
“The Conservatives very successfully appealed to SMEs during their election campaign, so it will be very interesting to see which promises they are able to deliver on and whether or not that faith the country has put in them will be repaid.”
George Osborne will announce the second Budget of 2015 on 8 July and is expected to implement planned measures that were not ready in time for the previous Budget on 18 March.
“The weeks leading up to a Budget are always busy for us as people look to take advantage of existing rules before any potential changes come into force,” added Simon.
“There are a number of unanswered questions at the moment, which I hope will be resolved when the Chancellor delivers his Budget in 7 weeks’ time and the uncertainty we have been faced with for the last few months will come to an end.”
