Paul Cox, corporate tax partner at Crowe’s Cheltenham office, said: “”While the statement provided support for the self-employed with Class 2 NI being abolished and Class 4 being reduced by 1% – it did not provide enough support to the majority of the owner-managed and mid-tier businesses in the UK.The Autumn Statement does not go far enough to act as a catalyst for companies to invest, innovate and grow. The Chancellor should have been bold and reduced the main rate of Corporation Tax. It is a real shame that the Chancellor did not provide incentives to encourage further investment in green initiatives. We need to radically change our approach to environmental and sustainability matters. The Chancellor seems to have completely ignored these areas in his Statement.”
“Keeping the cliff edge. No change to the £85k VAT registration threshold. Keeping it at this level is most likely the worst of both worlds. An increase could have encouraged small businesses to grow, whereas a reduction would have meant an adjustment period for small businesses after which the threshold would no longer act as a barrier to continued growth.
“The hospitality and leisure sector seemed to particularly benefit today but it was disappointing that Crowe UK’s call for a reduced VAT rate for the sector was not taken up. Whilst the sector will benefit from business rates savings, it faces higher costs, for example, through increases to salaries, so a reduction in VAT would have helped to reduce prices and/or aid profitability.”
