Autumn Budget 2017 Round-up
By Teamspirit on Thursday 23 November 2017
Following on from Philip Hammond’s second Budget as chancellor, reactions have focused on the government’s supportive plans for the housing market. The announcement that stamp duty will be abolished for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £300,000, and the first £300,000 of the cost of a £500,000 purchase, shows support for young people who are currently struggling to get onto the property ladder.
We’ve pulled out the other key takeaways impacting FS and digital from his speech for you here:
- Growth forecast for 2017 slashed from 2% to 1.5%
- VAT threshold for small business to remain at £85,000 for two years
- £500m support for 5G mobile networks, full fibre broadband and artificial intelligence
- £540m to support the growth of electric cars, including more charging points
- A further £2.3bn allocated for investment in research and development
- Rises in business rates to be pegged to CPI measure of inflation, not higher RPI, a cut of £2.3bn
- Digital economy royalties relating to UK sales which are paid to a low-tax jurisdiction to be subject to income tax as part of tax avoidance clampdown. Expected to raise about £200m a year
- Capital gains tax relief for overseas buyers of UK commercial property to be phased out, with exemptions for foreign pension funds
- £30m to develop digital skills distance learning courses
