As Britain welcomes a new prime minister, a leading Midlands accountants firm has provided a low-down on what the imminent policy changes mean for households and businesses in the region.
Claire Lea, director and head of advisory tax at Prime Accountants Group, which has offices in Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry said it wasn’t a surprise to see Liz Truss promising tax reforms to ‘transform Britain into an aspiration nation’.
Commenting on the announcement, Claire said: “We expect imminent changes to the tax system over the next few weeks with a direct focus on the cost-of-living crisis for many struggling businesses and households.
“Businesses in the region must be aware that we expect a reversal in the 1.25 per cent increase in the Health and Social Care Levy, which was only introduced in April this year.
“The planned increase in corporation tax rates from 19 per cent to 25 per cent in April 2023 is set to be cancelled; something which would be very welcomed by already-struggling businesses in the Midlands who have seen their costs spiral to unimaginable levels due to the upsurge in energy costs and inflationary pressures.”
Claire said that in response to the spiralling energy crisis, a package of a further £100 billion could be introduced to protect businesses and households.
However, in absence of extra support, she said SMEs in the area might not be able to cope with the substantial strain being placed on them.
She said: “These costs cannot be offset by increasing prices to customers which could result in many businesses being forced to shut down over the winter or more permanently – a fact we need to be mindful of over the next few weeks.
“We expect more details to be released tomorrow (Thursday, September 8) with an emergency budget set to be announced in the next two weeks.”
