So, what happened?
Anyway, will this be the budget that never was? Although Philip Hammond painted a bold picture and looked to reduce economic and taxation uncertainty for the future, we can neither guarantee the impact of Brexit or, indeed if that becomes politically problematic at home, the existence of a Conservative Government in the next tax year.
Today however was an attempt to be business and job-friendly, countered by low growth in 2017 and expected 2018 & 2019.
If needed (probably in the event of a ‘no-deal’ Brexit), the Spring statement (the objective of which is an economic progress report, rather than an introduction of new tax regulation) will be upgraded to a full budget.
All in all, it turned into a benignly reasonable day for small businesses – a pleasant change to one or two recent budgets – and fairly upbeat overall, but a bad day for private landlords. Employees also have something to cheer about with the increases in tax bands, but the impact will be watered down by the increase in autoenrolment contributions.
