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The Chancellor’s first ever ‘paired-back’ Spring Statement was made in Parliament today. We’ve stripped out the information that small businesses need to know, but we’ve also included a link so you can watch the whole thing back online at your leisure.

As a brief overview of the full picture, growth has been slightly better than expected and borrowing has been less than expected. Money has been allocated to prepare for Brexit and tackling the single-use plastic problem is getting some funding for research.

The good news is that this ‘paired-back’ Spring Statement means that big tax changes are now scheduled for once a year in the Autumn Budget, so very few nasty surprises for SMEs as we roll into the new tax year.

 

Business Rates Revaluations

Three-yearly revaluations were put in place after the Autumn 2017 budget, the previous schedule was one revaluation every 5 years. Today’s announcement has brought the next revaluation date, set for 2022, forward to 2021.

This is positive for businesses because the business rates revaluation looks into the overall state of the business rental market and re-aligns it with the overall property market. So having more frequent business rates revaluations means that small businesses can get more help from local councils in times of need, especially in tougher economic climates.

 

Taxing Digital Businesses

Finally the Government is making an attempt to crack-down on online businesses who operate internationally and find clever ways to avoid paying tax.

This is good for SMEs in the UK because a much needed injection of tax cash from these huge companies will take the pressure of smaller companies in Budgets to come.

 

Cash & Digital Payments

Cash is becoming scarce as digital takes over, and the Government is planning to offer help to businesses who aren’t fully digi-capable where payments are concerned. Great for SMEs who handle cash. If that’s your business, take a look at this link and offer your response to the document put forward.

 

Seeking Views On Skills

Also great for SMEs, the Government wants business feedback on extending tax-relief for Self-Employed people who are looking to up-skill as well as employed workers who wish to fund their own training. You can respond here.

Read all of the headlines from the Spring Statement 2018 here, take a look at the latest stories and comments from the BBC on the Statement here, and watch the Statement on catch-up via this link.

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