Budget 2016 – Anything for the Small Business?

March 21, 2016 by Andy Crow

Budget 2016 – Anything for the Small Business?

Another Budget and another day. What’s in it for Business? Some of the key themes are below:

• Small business rate relief will be doubled from 50% to 100% from April 1st 2017. Businesses with a property with a rateable value of £12,000 and below will receive 100% relief. Businesses with a property with a rateable value of between £12,000 and £15,000 will receive tapered relief.
• There is an increase in the threshold for the standard business rate multiplier to a rateable value from £18,000 to £51,000
• Corporation Tax will fall to 17% by 2020
• For the self employed Class2 NICs will be abolished by 2018
• For individuals there are changes to capital gains tax which for most assets will be cut from 28% to 20% and the basic rate from 18% to 10% from April 6th 2016 – excluding residential property
• Entrepreneurs relief will be extended to include longer term external investors in unlisted companies. It will apply to newly issued shares on or after 17 March 2016, provided they are held for a minimum 3 years from 6th April 2016. A 10% rate will apply, subject to the lifetime limit of £10 million on eligible gains.

Another important theme that emerged from the Chancellors speech was the increased uncertainty in the outlook for the global economy and hence the impact on the UK economy. Whilst the UK is preforming relatively well he has had to reduce the overall growth forecast by 0.2%. With interest rates heading towards negative territory and the uncertainty of our relationship with Europe we could be in for a roller coaster ride. It is important that all businesses are run as efficiently as possible and a healthy cash flow maintained. The market for all services is very competitive and there are very good deals to be had from energy to printing. However, it needs time to review and implement. Chorus Business Advisers can help you in this process and ensure those costs do come down.

For further help and advice on any aspect of running your business please call Chorus Business Advisers on 0845 8671263 or email info@chorusadvisers.co.uk