Saffery Champness Chartered Accountants hosted their 2018 Autumn post Budget breakfast at The Village Hotel in Bournemouth. They presented to a packed room of guests, representing businesses and the professional communities of Bournemouth and Poole.
Saffery Partner, Nick Fernyhough opened the event and referred to the fact that, buoyed by the latest underlying borrowing forecasts, that the Chancellor had branded the 2018 Budget the end of austerity. Nick commented that whether the label was appropriate seems to be a point of view but said that this budget definitely took steps in a different direction, moving away from the key goal of reducing the budget deficit to nil.
Continuing, Nick said, “There was an element of Fiscal Phil wanting it all here. Politically he is under pressure and wanted to tick as many boxes as possible so we had what looked like a traditional budget giveaway with plenty of sweeteners, some more significant than others. On the taxation side the threshold changes will be important to many people. The changes to Business Rates are also significant and are very much needed, on the High Street in particular.”
Tax Director Ian Harlock-Smith discussed the Capital Gains Tax changes to Entrepreneurs Relief, Private Residence Relief and the associated Letting Relief as well as the current position on Making Tax/VAT Digital.
Tax Partner Alex gave insight in to the Business Tax Capital allowances, Corporate tax changes and IR35. He also discussed the direction of Inheritance Tax and the Chancellor’s reluctance to make changes in this area at this time.
John Mason, Director and Founder of the i247 Group, an outsourcing provider in Bournemouth employing circa 130 staff advised, “The Structures and Building Allowance is a welcome addition to help us to invest further in commercial property for our business. This has been an aim of ours over the last 2/3 years and continues to be so. The continuing availability of R & D reliefs is really good, as our business thrives on innovation. The restrictions introduced will focus the benefit on businesses that are employing significant numbers of staff and contributing to the overall economy, both locally & nationally.”
Robert Rutherford, CEO at IT Consultancy QuoStar commented, “This was certainly a pro-business budget, clearly understanding that whatever happens in relation to Brexit the country’s success depends on those running and growing businesses. Today’s event provided an invaluable in- depth analysis from Safferys.”
Nick concluded, “Turnout at today’s event was really excellent. Alex and Ian gave us a very useful insight into both the changes arising immediately from the budget and other current taxation issues, with their opinion on what to expect in the future. We are committed to ensuring that our clients and contacts are given both information on immediate tax changes but also a vision of where tax legislation may affect them over the next few years to enable them to effectively plan ahead.”
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