20 per cent VAT 2012 budget 50% return accountancy accountancy fees accountancy services accountant accountant B accountants accounting for dividends accounting software accounts administration annuity annuity rates Autumn statement avoid inheritance tax avoiding inheritance tax bank lending basic personal allowance BCC big picture Bribery Act British Chamber of Commerce budget budget 2011 Budget 2012 budgeting business business advice business confidence business exit business exit planning business friendly business goals business management business owners business plan business planning business record keeping business records business sale business success business succession planning business survival business tax planning business tips bwe based account cash flow Cash flow forecast cash is king cash management Cash-based accounting cashflow chancellor chartered accountant chartered accountant Birmingham chartered accountants chartered financial planner chartered financial planner Birmin child savings children’s savings client entertaining Cloud accounting Company Tax returns corporartion tax Corporation tax credit control credit control procedure debt collection debt recovery director’s loan account directors loan Directors’ loan account dividends doubl dragons den Economic expansion EIS Enterprise Investment Scheme enterprise zones Entrepreneur’s relief entrepreneurs entrepreneurs relief exit planning finance finance management financial advisor financial difficulty financial forecasts financial goals financial management financial plan financial planning financial planning checklist financial planning tips FSTE 100 FTSE100 fund manager gifts global markets growth HMRC HMRC enquiry HMRC tax enquiries HMRC tax enquiry home loans how to manage time ICAEW IHT income tax income tax r income tax return inheritance tax inheritance tax planning insolvency Institute of Chartered Accountants investing Investment investment advice investment diversity investment in marketing investment management investment philosophy investment planning investment portfolio investment strategies investment volatility investments investors jobs key perfirmance indicators KPIs kpi's late payment penalties late payment penalty fines late payments management meetings marketing investment miscalculated tax motivating staff national lottery new years resolution online accountancy software online accounting online accounting software online accounts online tax return online VAT return outsourced accountancy outsourcing outsourcing accounts overtrading owner managers Pay off mortgage PAYE paying a dividend pension pension contribution pension contributions pension fund Pension funds pension scheme pensions personal allowance trap Personal financial plan personal financial planning personal tax return plumbers tax safe plan pre pack administration private pension profitable business sale R & D tax credits R&D tax credits recession reduce tax report on economy research and development tax credits retirement planning Saga sareholder protection cover Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme SEIS Self assessment self assessment tax return selling my business selling your company shareholder protection small business small business tax small businesses SME SME marketing SME tax planning SMEs start-up succession planning tax accountant tax affairs tax avoidance tax breaks tax charges tax code tax disclosure tax enquiries tax enquiry tax evasion tax investigation tax investigations tax liability tax man tax mitigation strategies Tax planning tax planning advice tax planning schemes tax reduction tax reform tax relief Tax return tax saving tax saving strategies tax savings tax strategies Tax tribunals taxation tax-break time management time management skills tough times UK Bribery Act UK economy VAT increase vat return VAT rise VAT submission web based acc when to pay a dividend work-life balance Xero Xero accountancy software Xero accountants xero accounting Xero accounts Xero accounts service

A budget of stability and a boost for entrepreneurs?

Add to: Digg Add to: Del.icio.us Add to: Facebook Add to: Furl Add to: Google Add to: Live Spaces Add to: MySpace Add to: StumbleUpon Add to: Twitter
Thursday March 24, 2011 at 12:06pm
So claimed Chancellor George Osborne on Radio 4 this morning, and actually he might just be right.

The measures introduced to help businesses and especially small business are to be welcomed. These include the surprise increase in the Entrepreneurs Relief lifetime allowance from £5 million to £10 million. This relief was already generous in the current economic climate as it allowed entrepreneurs to pay capital gains tax at a rate of only 10% on the first £5 million of qualifying gain. With the doubling of this relief from 6 April 2011 the number of business sales wholly qualifying for Entrepreneurs Relief will undoubtedly increase, giving some welcome news for business owners who are looking to exit from their business.

As an incentive to invest in small businesses, the Chancellor announced an increase in the rate of income tax relief that would be available on qualifying investments in Enterprise Investment Schemes ("EIS"). The announcement means that the rate of income tax relief will increase from 20% - 30% from 6 April 2011, making this a very generous relief for those willing to invest in small trading companies.

The Chancellor confirmed that 21 new Enterprise Zones will be created, which is great – although Birmingham doesn’t benefit directly our neighbours in the Black Country will get the benefit of up to 100% business rate discount for up to 5 years, superfast broadband connections and enhanced capital allowances. For small businesses located outside of the new Enterprise Zones the small business rates relief holiday is to be extended for a further 12 months from 1 October 2011.

For technology companies there’s an increase relief under the Research & Development tax relief scheme, the rate for qualifying expenditure will increase to 200% from 1 April 2011 and 225% from 1 April 2012. The minimum spend criteria of £10,000 will also be removed from 1 April 2011, giving a welcome incentive for very small businesses that are investing modest amounts in R & D activity.

All in all some decent news for SMEs in the West Midlands, let’s just see how it all plays out in the weeks and months to come.

Andy Parker
Chartered Accountant Birmingham

Comments on this post:

There aren't any comments for this post yet. Why not be the first to comment?

Categories:

Accountancy Services, General, Support for Business Owners

Other Recent Posts
  • What does retirement mean to you?
    		•
  • Double Dip Recession. Is it all bad news?
    		•
  • Large corporations must do more to stamp out late payments
    		•

    Share your experiences:

    Your Name  
    (to appear with your comment)
    Email Address  
    (will not be published)
    Comments:  
    Human Validation Check  
    In the box below, please type the characters that you see in the picture. This helps us to ensure a real person (and not a crafty computer!) is submitting this form.

    Enter the code shown to the left:

    Parker Chartered Accountants and Financial Advisors, 1192 Warwick Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham. B27 6BT.
    Tel: 0121 764 5161  Fax: 0121 764 7833  Email Parker Chartered Accountants here