March 13, 2020
This week's Budget is the first of this decade, the first in 50 years outside the EU and the first of this government. Now, the People’s Government is delivering a Conservative Budget which delivers on our promises to the British people.
This Budget will also help small- and medium-sized businesses all across our country, keeping the UK economy strong. It builds on our successes of the last year, invests in key infrastructure projects, and backs businesses to innovate, invest, and trade. That means more growth across our country, more support for hard-working people, and a more robust British economy.
We are the Party of Business. We want Britain to be the best country in the world to start and grow a business – a place where entrepreneurs know they can build on their ideas and find success. And this Budget invests in our economy to support businesses across the UK.
That’s why we are increasing R&D tax credits to significantly increase investment. We’ve set a target of making private R&D investment 2.4% of GDP by 2027, and these tax credits will help us meet that target.
We will increase the rate of Research and Development Expenditure credit from 12% to 13%, and consult on whether to allow additional costs to qualify for R&D tax reliefs. And we will extend the British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans programme, supporting up to 10,000 additional loans up and down the country.
We’re also backing our exporters by increasing the lending capacity of UK Export Finance. We will make permanent the additional £2 billion to UKEF (UK Export Finance) first announced in 2018. And we’ve announced a new £2 billion lending facility for projects supporting clean growth, and an extra £1 billion to support UK defence and security goods.
Rishi Sunak in the Budget this week has announced that this Government will abolish business rates altogether for many small retailers this year. Many retailers in stores with a rateable value of less that £51,000 will no longer need to pay business rates altogether.
He also said businesses in sectors currently outside the business rate discount scheme, including leisure, gyms, nightclubs and bed and breakfasts, have the 100% retail discount extended to them as well for the coming year.
We’re also reforming Entrepreneurs’ Relief so that it genuinely works in the interests of small business owners. The Resolution Foundation called Entrepreneurs’ Relief the “worst tax relief in the UK”, and there is evidence that Entrepreneurs’ Relief has primarily benefited a small number of very affluent taxpayers. So, we will reduce the limit on eligible gains to £1 million as recommended by the Federation of Small Businesses to focus that support for small- and medium-sized business owners. Over 80% of those using the relief are unaffected.
We know that businesses are at the heart of a successful economy. They create the jobs that put bread on the table and generate the tax revenue that funds our vital public services.
That’s why our Budget backs businesses with lower taxes, more public investment, and better infrastructure. Our Conservative Budget will help small businesses succeed.
So if you own a small business, sign up now to support our campaign – and help us unleash Britain’s potential.
Commenting, Therese Coffey, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, said:
“Corbyn’s Pension Tax will see ten million savers facing a huge bill forcing them to delay their retirement for almost three and a half years.
“This is just one of the ways a Corbyn government would hammer hardworking people on top of his plans to hike up taxes by £2,400 a year, as well as the cost of his plan for unlimited immigration and the chaos of 2020 being dominated by two more referendums – one on Brexit and another on Scottish independence.
“Only Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party can get Brexit done with a deal, get parliament working again and turbocharge our economy to unleash Britain’s potential.”
Read more about how this Pension Tax will impact millions of savers (PDF)
