MORE than 100 business people have registered for tomorrow’s free Budget Briefing with The Herald and Sunday Herald.
Places are still available for the event, which will analyse Chancellor George Osborne’s key decisions with a lively panel of experts.
“While the Chancellor has committed to no increases in tax rates, that hasn’t stopped him finding either new taxes or restrictions to allowances that have achieved the same effect – including stamp duty surcharges, apprenticeship levy and insurance premium tax,” said Fraser Campbell, a partner at accountancy firm Campbell Dallas.
Derek Hanlan, director of taxation at management consultancy Craig Corporate, said businesses needed clarity on issues including tax relief on pension contributions. “So we hope this year’s budget will help reduce the guesswork for business owners,” he added.
With the EU referendum approaching and the possibility of a Tory leadership contest thereafter, Jacqui Low, executive chairman of communications consultancy Indigo, predicted a relatively safe budget with the “added spice” of some crowd-pleasing new policies like last year’s “so-called national living wage.”
Ken Welsh, managing director of wealth management consultancy VWM Wealth, said: “Fiscal pressure is still biting and we would not be surprised to see further changes in the areas of inheritance tax, capital gains and property taxes post [EU] referendum.”
Grant Johnston, a partner at law firm Wright Johnston Mackenzie said: “It would be good to see some clarity on pensions and an indication as to what the government would intend to do over the next few years.”
Professor Ronald MacDonald, from the Adam Smith Chair of Political Economy at the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School, expects the Chancellor to give further relief to the North Sea oil industry, given the effect the low oil price was having on the Scottish economy.
This free event will begin at 8am on Thursday, March 17 at 200 St Vincent Street in Glasgow. Confirm your place today by contacting Lynsay Wong on 0141 302 6082 or lynsay.wong@heraldandtimes.co.uk. For more information on this event please visit – http://www.herald-events.com/budget. @HeraldEvents #budget16