Speaking at a parliamentary hearing earlier this week, Chancellor Gordon Brown announced that he would make his annual pre-budget report (PBR) to parliament on the 27th of November. The pre-budget report is used by the government to announce tax and spending plans, and to give a general overview of the state of the economy.
Mr Brown has come under fire from opposition polticians and some economists for failing to acknowledge that decreasing tax revenues and additional spending on military and humanitarian initiatives may mean that he is unable to meet his ambitious spending plans.
Although the Chancellor has thus far refused to be drawn on the issue of extra taxation, he was adament that things are going according to plan: 'All these costs will be met, [and] they will be met within the fiscal rules that we have set down,' he asserted.
Following Gordon Brown's announcement, tax experts and analysts have begun to make predictions about the content of the pre-budget report. Mike Warburton, tax partner at business and financial advisers Grant Thornton spoke to UK tax industry magazine Accountingweb.co.uk on Thursday:
'Brown's key objective is to keep the economy moving in the hope that we can avoid the recession which is expected in many other developed countries. He is not going to want to upset those efforts by a tax raising budget,' he predicted.
Grant Thornton's likely contenders for inclusion in the pre-budget report are:
- Raising the nil rate band for inheritance tax from £200,000 to £400,000
- Improving the children's tax credit
- Increasing the age at which pensioners have to acquire an annuity from 75 to 80
- Supportive measures for UK business, including possible aid for airlines.
Mr Warburton said, however, that Grant Thornton did not expect the Chancellor to announce any major changes to stamp duty or national insurance, despite industry calls for major simplification of both.
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/011108/80/cevtf.html www.accountingweb.co.uk- budget section
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