Autumn Statement: Billions lined up for the Treasury, but no tax giveaways

WHILE the chancellor rowed back on ditching the tax credit cut taper, there appears to be little in terms of giveaways for business, while advisers have several issues that may give them and their clients headaches.

Maintaining the taper will cost the Treasury more than £9bn over the next five years. There is extra funding for health education, to the tune of £3bn – but that is where the ‘giveaway’ ends.

The impact of chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review points towards £45bn of extra funds in total for the Treasury over the next five years.

The apprenticeship levy will bring in nearly £12bn between 2017/18 and 2020/21, while introducing a higher rate of stamp duty land tax on additional properties will make a £4bn haul. Osborne’s tax policy decisions cover £16.8bn of the £20bn in extra funds being made available.

A ‘special rate’ on corporation tax restitution payments will bring in £500m. Retaining the company car tax diesel fuel supplement will bring in £1bn.

Anti-avoidance and evasion measures will bring in another £1bn over the five years, which includes more stringent GAAR penalties: of which £10m is predicted to be pocketed by the Treasury in 2016/17.

Kevin Hindley, a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal Taxand UK, said it may have been tempting for Osborne to engage in giving something back to business, given the increased growth figures compared to expectations, but we do not see this in the Autumn Statement.

“It’s a disappointment that the private sector, which Osborne acknowledges are driving this growth, are not going to participate in the fruits of their labour,” said Hindley.

The biggest part of that extra money in the pockets of the Treasury comes from the Spending Review – where more than £25bn will be saved through to 2019/20.