Five Autumn Budget predictions
By Tom Carnegie, 20 Nov 17
With chancellor Philip Hammond poised to release the government’s Autumn Budget on Wednesday, International Adviser has spoken to experts from Old Mutual Wealth, RSM, Mazars, Irwin Mitchell Private Wealth and Aegon to get their budget predictions.
A more measured approach
Following some of the u-turns and problems the chancellor face with last year’s budget, Mark Pearce, partner at Irwin Private Wealth, expects Hammond will take a more measured approach to any changes this year.
“Clearly, just a few months in to a new government, we do not expect to see any major giveaways although there are rumours that stamp duty land tax rates may reduce for first-time buyers,” Pearce said.
“This is already being discussed as merely an excuse for sellers to raise house prices so there will be little to no net effect,” he said.
National insurance
Pearce said it will be interesting to see if the chancellor proposes any changes to national insurance contributions “following his failure last time”.
“I do not believe a freeze on NI contributions formed part of the new election manifesto so this may be brought back in,” he said.
Tax avoidance
Pearce said there will “no doubt” be additional anti-avoidance legislation imposed for those trying to avoid tax through the use of structures and schemes.
“The problem is that now there is so much anti-avoidance legislation in the system that those who are ignoring it will keep ignoring it and those who are compliant will bemoan yet more red-tape,” he said.
Tags: Aegon | Budget | Irwin Mitchell | Mazars | Old Mutual
