Written by: Claire Januszewski
Published: 8th March 2017
This was the first (and last) Spring Budget for Chancellor Philip Hammond following the announcement at last year’s Autumn Statement that the main budget will be moved to autumn from this year. With a warning that the Spring Budget will no longer be a "major fiscal event", most were not expecting any ground-breaking announcements. Despite this however there are some changes which will affect businesses up and down the country.
Hammond put business at the forefront of his speech, stating his desire to make Britain the ‘best place to start and grow a business.’ So what do the new measures mean for you and your company? Here are the key takeaways for business owners:
1. Those businesses losing small business rate relief will benefit from an additional cap. This ensures their rates will increase by no more than £50 a month.
2. Pubs will receive a £1,000 discount on their business rate bill. This will be given to all pubs with rateable value of less than £100,000 (90% of all pubs in the country.)
3. A £300m fund will be allocated to local councils in order to provide discretionary relief to those businesses most affected by the increase in business rates.
It is claimed that these measures amount to a total £435m package to help small businesses.
Author
Claire Januszewski
Copywriter
Claire is a copywriter working within the digital content team at Begbies Traynor. Her areas of expertise are business insolvency and all areas of personal finance. She has written for a variety of online and print publications, and her work has been published in a number of national newspapers, including the Daily Mail, the Daily Telegraph, and the Daily Express.