UK Government Spring Statement 2019
There can seldom have been such little interest in a set piece UK Government announcement as was afforded the Chancellor’s Spring Statement yesterday. Large spaces on the green benches in the House of Commons, reduced to an afterthought on the main news channels last night and a lack of column inches in today’s newspapers tells us that interest was elsewhere.
Sandwiched between a series of crucial Brexit votes, much of the Chancellor’s Spring Statement consisted of appeals to parliament to deliver an orderly exit from the EU.
The Spring Statement had no new tax proposals and indeed deferred any extension of Making Tax Digital (MTD). However, the Chancellor did introduce various consultations, early-stage discussion papers and calls for evidence. These covered a wide range of topics, stretching
from a forthcoming review of the National Living Wage to the development of a low carbon Future Homes Strategy. One notable absentee from the Chancellor’s consultation list was the second part of the Office of Tax Simplification’s review of inheritance tax, which had been promised for Spring 2019.
Our summary also includes a useful recap of the key changes for the forthcoming 2019/20 tax year that have already been announced and passed into law.
If you have any questions about the contents of our summary or how any aspects of your tax and financial planning may be affected by the Budget, please call us to discuss them.