Autumn Statement: What it means for businesses

Chancellor George Osborne has set out his Spending Review and Autumn Statement to Parliament, with the digitisation of HMRC, investment in the North, anti-tax avoidance measures and Enterprise Zones all featuring heavily in the plans.

In his speech, the Chancellor said £450m would be allocated to the Government Digital Service (GDS) and announced a £1.3bn boost for HMRC to create personalised digital tax accounts, potentially making it one of the world’s most digitally advanced tax administrations.

Giving all businesses access to digital tax accounts by 2016/17 could lead to a £400m reduction in tax administration costs for companies by the close of the 2019/20 fiscal year.

Furthermore, the government intends to close the net on tax avoidance and shrink the impact it has on the UK’s economy, introducing new penalties for “serial” tax avoiders and making it a criminal offence to fail to declare taxable assets overseas.

To help startups and SMEs, the Chancellor used his Autumn Statement to announce the creation of more Enterprise Zones, areas where smaller companies receive business support and pay reduced taxes, bringing the total to 26. A number of existing enterprise zones will be extended.

Of the new zones, 15 will be in small towns and rural areas such as Dorset, Carlisle and Ipswich.

Government data shows that, since they were introduced in April 2012, Enterprise Zones have supported 540 businesses, attracted £2.2bn in private sector investment and helped to create around 19k jobs.

Elsewhere, the Chancellor revealed government plans to invest heavily in transport, arts and science across the North by establishing a £400m Northern Powerhouse fund to fuel small business growth.

In Manchester, £5m will be used to boost tourism with the creation of a South Asia gallery, set up in partnership with the British Museum. A further £150m would be used to roll out an oyster-style ticketing system in the North.

The government will also invest in the UK’s bid to host the Rugby League World Cup in 2021 and provide £1m for Hull’s City of Culture programme in 2017.

In a potential boost for contractors and housebuilders, the Autumn Statement also highlighted the government’s intention to deliver 400k new affordable homes in England over the next five years, with the Treasury announcing £6.9bn in funding.

Around £4bn of the total will go towards housebuilding for shared ownership schemes, with subsidies of £2.3bn to fuel the construction of 200k starter homes available at 20% below market rates.

Looking to promote your product/service to SME businesses in your region? Find out how Bdaily can help →