In his regular blog for Caerphilly Observer, Andrew Diplock, chair of Caerphilly Business Forum, looks ahead to the first Budget from the Coalition Government.
The Chancellor is allowed a tipple while delivering his budget – the only MP who can drink alcohol in the House of Commons chamber.
But I doubt we’ll see George Osbourne supping a pint at the dispatch box. Not only would it send the wrong messages about alcohol but it would be particularly brazen after the Coalition’s talk about raising the tax on beer again.
Critics warn any rise in duty would hit pubs and breweries hard at a time when so many are struggling.
And it’s details like this that will form the reality of the budget rather than the rhetoric that accompanies it, although at the moment the Coalition is doing its best to talk the talk as for businesses.
Its phrase of the moment is a “pro-growth Budget” (as if anyone was considering an alternative to growth). And they seem to acknowledge the deafening cries of businesses to cut red tape, though some measures mooted would be controversial, such as exempting small firms from maternity leave rules.
Reading about George Osbourne’s options, I found these recommendations, all from one source:
- abolish the small company corporation tax rate,
- clarify rules on whether someone is employed or self-employed,
- examine the different tax rates between salaries and dividends,
- simplify tax and allowances for small businesses so they can submit returns without the expense of accountants,
- remind HM Revenue and Customs about ‘Customer Service’ and,
- reform the IR35 which attempts to determine when a freelance contractor is employed or self-employed by committing to integrate NI and income tax.
These, based on fairness as much as helping business, come from the OTS – the Office of Tax Simplification – itself a monument to successive governments’ bureaucratic failings if ever there was one.
Having established the OTS, surely the Government must now heed its advice, or is it just a red herring amid the red tape?
Andrew Diplock
Chairman, Caerphilly Business Forum
For more information about Caerphilly Business Forum and its events call 029 2125 1395 or email leah@cbforum.co.uk