Thu 22 / 03 / 12
The six most important announcements in the Budget yesterday for small business owners
I realise that small business owners really don’t want to have to spend hours watching the budget commentary and would just like to know the key points that will affect them. Having sat through the budget myself I have put together a quick summary.
1. The personal allowance will be increased to £9,205 from April 2013. This is good news for business owners as not only does it decrease your personal tax bill but it also means your employees will get to take home more of what you pay them. This should result in most people having a £220 lower tax bill in 13/14.
2. From April 2013 if you have an unincorporated business with turnover under £77k you can produce your accounts on a cash basis for tax purposes. The idea behind this is that it reduces the administration costs for small business which can only be a good thing.
3. If you have children you will still be able to claim child benefits as long as no one in your household earns over £50k. The benefit is gradually reduced if someone earns over this until no benefits are available if someone earns over £60k.
4. The decrease in the main rate of corporation tax has been accelerated so that the rate from April 2012 will be 24%, decreasing to 22% by April 2014. It is disappointing that no similar decrease was made to the small companies tax rate.
5. This won’t have much effect for small business owners but the big news was the decrease in the 50p tax rate to 45p. This has led to accusations that the budget will help the rich but only marginally help the less well off.
6. The Government is also considering enterprise loans for young people to start their own business which I hope will get approval in the next budget.
If you had any questions on how the budget will affect you then please feel free to contact us on 01273 737307 or e-mail us info@bainbridgelewis.co.uk.
Blog post by Carol Lewis, Bainbridge Lewis
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