By Ross Martin, Accountancy Director at Hive Business
George Osborne announces the 2016 Budget tomorrow; there’s no point me adding to the rumours and speculation about what might be in it. I’m hopeful, though, that as the weather’s cleared, so might the fog of uncertainty hanging over UK businesses.
This is probably a good day to stand back and survey what kind of landscape the beleaguered small business owner finds himself in, and it’s one that appears rather hostile. We’ve had a deluge of legislative changes in the past 18 months, driven in part by an extraordinary number of Financial Statements from the Treasury, and all this uncertainty has been hurting the UK economy.
Let me give you an example: when tax relief on interest on buy-to-let properties was abandoned, it got everyone asking “should I sell?”, sending ripples of uncertainty through the property market. We have yet to see how this truly impacts the property market and wider economy so, on balance, does Osborne still think it was a worthwhile exercise?
Hopefully he’s noticed his handiwork has left business owners stumbling around punch drunk; they haven’t had time to take in all the changes this Parliament, never mind catch up with the reality of their situation (the day to day challenges of running a business tend to take precedent I’m afraid, George).
If business owners are struggling, HMRC is too; it’s failed to take a consistent approach to its charge due to inconsistent leadership, and so we’ve seen new tools granted before 2014 still going unused in favour of scare tactics (as a firm, we haven’t seen more than a handful of “routine” tax inquiries for two years now).
What small business owners need is a bit of space to catch up and work out what’s going on, and if Osborne has any more disruptive ideas on his mind, let’s hope that for now at least he allows them to go the way of his tax on pension contributions and quietly sink.
Either way, watch this space for my post-Budget analysis.
If you want to speak to Ross about your options please call 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.
