Taxation: UK shifts tax balance

The UK Government's package for industry includes:

1) extending the "time to pay" scheme for business taxes implemented to support cashflow during the global financial crisis

2) a temporary increase in the small business premises rates (property occupation tax) for small businesses

3) bolstering home sales with the abolition of stamp duty on property costing less than GBP250,000 for first time buyers (which means those who have never held an interest in property - a much more restrictive, and accurate, definition than that applied in the housing industry which uses it to mean anyone who has no property to sell in order to purchase another property - the low end of a housing chain) - the hope being that new home sales will be supported

4) a new qango - UK Finance for Growth - will administer GBP4,000 million in "SME finance products" including the Growth Capital Fund

5) a GBP120 million fund for "Accelerated Development Zones"

6) "an intention to create a Green Investment Bank."

7) Entrepreneur's Relief lifetime limit (Capital Gains Tax) to be increased to GBP2 million.

8) Annual Investment Allowance increased to GBP100,000 with added avoidance measures to ensure that investment is in genuine and viable businesses.

9) changes to Consortium Relief - EU and EEA resident companies involved in UK consortia will be able to pass losses of the EU/EEA companies will be able to apply tax losses in the consortia to their UK resident companies in proportion to their participation in the consortium.