Business Matters

Business Tax Simplification

The Chancellor announced a number of measures aimed at tax simplification, including:

Beginning this year, doubling the three line account threshold to £30,000 and introducing shorter self-employment pages for businesses with turnovers below the VAT registration threshold.

For those self assessment payments on account due in January 2010 and July 2010 (ie for 2009/10), the threshold below which taxpayers do not need to make payments on account will be doubled from £500 to £1,000.

Consulting this Autumn on how best to collect tax on benefits in kind and expenses through the payroll, removing the need for a separate end of year process for many employers.

Consulting on removing the £8,500 a year threshold at which most benefits in kind become taxable, making it simpler for employers when reporting benefits.

Consulting on how to improve the present separate systems for collecting Class 2 and Class 4 national insurance contributions (NICs).

Repealing ‘outdated’ legislation relating to expenditure on fire safety equipment from April 2008, making the tax code easier to understand.

Corporation Tax

The Chancellor confirmed that the main rate of corporation tax will be cut by 2% to 28% from next year.