Chancellor to deliver Autumn Statement on 4th December

Chancellor, George Osborne will make his Autumn Statement to the nation on 4th December, the Treasury announced this week.
 
The Autumn Statement is a highly important update of government finances and as one of the most critical pronouncements of the year, it is regarded as a reliable indicator of what will be in the Budget next spring.
 
The statement also includes forecasts by the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) for the coming months.
 
Confirming the date on his official Twitter account, George Osborne said: "[I] can confirm that [the] Autumn Statement will be 4th Dec.
 
"That’s when we’ll set out [the] next steps in [our] plan to secure the economic recovery."
 
In last year’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor cancelled a previously planned 3p fuel duty rise that had been intended to begin in January 2013, and also announced that austerity measures would continue into 2018.
 
Earlier this month, George Osborne alerted contractors and the self-employed when he reportedly said there was "no pot of money for tax sweeteners" in his upcoming Autumn Statement. Both Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and Entrepreneurs’ Relief emerged on the table for potentially significant cutbacks.
 
Mark Mills, founder of Comerga, an advisor to SMEs looking to sell-up, believes Entrepreneurs’ Relief is likely to be phased out due to the amount of capital gains tax it has kept from the Treasury’s reserves.
 
"I think Entrepreneurs’ Relief will get cut back at the next election because, as the economy recovers, the amount that the Government could receive in capital gains tax will rise and they will want to take a bigger share of the pot," said Mills.
 
In line with Mills’ forecast, SMEs have been identified as the biggest contributor to the UK’s ‘tax gap’. Small firms were responsible for half of the difference between what should have been recouped by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and what actually came in, compared with bigger businesses, which account for only a quarter of the gap.

Date published 16 Oct 2013 | Last updated 16 Oct 2013