As the dust settles on the first full Conservative budget in 19 years, commentators are starting to pick apart the bones and look at the detail.
With one eye towards continuing economic recovery, this was a relatively cautious budget from the Chancellor. However, behind the headlines about welfare reform, the slashing of inheritance tax and the introduction of a National Living Wage, there are a number of aspects in the budget that are worth closer inspection.
The powers to be given to local authorities in England and Wales to relax Sunday trading laws will be of particular interest to online and small retailers.
Currently, in England and Wales (Scotland relaxed Sunday trading laws some time ago and enjoys 24 supermarkets, seven days a week), shops of over 280m2 are limited to six hours of trading time on Sundays.
Smaller retailers are not subject to the same limitations and, of course, neither are online retailers, who operate round the clock. If larger retailers are able to extend their opening hours, this could have an impact on smaller retailers and online retailers, especially during busy periods such as Christmas. Analysts will be watching with interest to gauge any material impact of this relaxation of trading laws.
Another concern for smaller retailers is the proposed introduction of the National Living Wage, due to rise to £9p/h by 2020. While larger retailers may be able to absorb these extra costs, smaller ones may not. James Lowman, the chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores said: “The introduction of a compulsory living wage will have a devastating impact on thousands of convenience stores.”
Taxation is another area where George Osborne made some significant changes. The headline announcements were:
• Confirmation that fuel duty is frozen for the rest of this year
• New Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bands are to be introduced, with revenues eventually going towards a new Roads Fund by 2020
• Corporation tax cut to 18% by 2019
• Corporation tax payment dates brought forward
• Continued crackdown on tax avoidance, tax fraud, offshore trusts and hidden economy businesses
• Reformation of non-domicile (non-dom) tax to revoke permanent non-dom tax status
• 40p income tax threshold to rise to £43,000 from next year
• No inheritance tax on estates lower than £1m
So far, the government is making good on its pledge not to increase VAT. However, if the government goes ahead with its pre-election promise to legislate against tax rises in this parliament and more government income is needed, then excise duties may be increased.
This was very much a budget at the start of a government and the Chancellor clearly has his eye on the longer term as can be seen by the timescale of these new measures.
However, the cautious optimism about economic growth must be tempered with the worrying news from China. China is currently fighting off a run on the markets. If it is not successful, the cautious optimism we heard yesterday may not last much longer.
As the dust settles on the first full Conservative budget in 19 years, commentators are starting to pick apart the bones and look at the detail.
With one eye towards continuing economic recovery, this was a relatively cautious budget from the Chancellor. However, behind the headlines about welfare reform, the slashing of inheritance tax and the introduction of a National Living Wage, there are a number of aspects in the budget that are worth closer inspection.
The powers to be given to local authorities in England and Wales to relax Sunday trading laws will be of particular interest to online and small retailers.
Currently, in England and Wales (Scotland relaxed Sunday trading laws some time ago and enjoys 24 supermarkets, seven days a week), shops of over 280m2 are limited to six hours of trading time on Sundays.
Smaller retailers are not subject to the same limitations and, of course, neither are online retailers, who operate round the clock. If larger retailers are able to extend their opening hours, this could have an impact on smaller retailers and online retailers, especially during busy periods such as Christmas. Analysts will be watching with interest to gauge any material impact of this relaxation of trading laws.
Another concern for smaller retailers is the proposed introduction of the National Living Wage, due to rise to £9p/h by 2020. While larger retailers may be able to absorb these extra costs, smaller ones may not. James Lowman, the chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores said: “The introduction of a compulsory living wage will have a devastating impact on thousands of convenience stores.”
Taxation is another area where George Osborne made some significant changes. The headline announcements were:
• Confirmation that fuel duty is frozen for the rest of this year
• New Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bands are to be introduced, with revenues eventually going towards a new Roads Fund by 2020
• Corporation tax cut to 18% by 2019
• Corporation tax payment dates brought forward
• Continued crackdown on tax avoidance, tax fraud, offshore trusts and hidden economy businesses
• Reformation of non-domicile (non-dom) tax to revoke permanent non-dom tax status
• 40p income tax threshold to rise to £43,000 from next year
• No inheritance tax on estates lower than £1m
So far, the government is making good on its pledge not to increase VAT. However, if the government goes ahead with its pre-election promise to legislate against tax rises in this parliament and more government income is needed, then excise duties may be increased.
This was very much a budget at the start of a government and the Chancellor clearly has his eye on the longer term as can be seen by the timescale of these new measures.
However, the cautious optimism about economic growth must be tempered with the worrying news from China. China is currently fighting off a run on the markets. If it is not successful, the cautious optimism we heard yesterday may not last much longer.
As the dust settles on the first full Conservative budget in 19 years, commentators are starting to pick apart the bones and look at the detail.
With one eye towards continuing economic recovery, this was a relatively cautious budget from the Chancellor. However, behind the headlines about welfare reform, the slashing of inheritance tax and the introduction of a National Living Wage, there are a number of aspects in the budget that are worth closer inspection.
The powers to be given to local authorities in England and Wales to relax Sunday trading laws will be of particular interest to online and small retailers.
Currently, in England and Wales (Scotland relaxed Sunday trading laws some time ago and enjoys 24 supermarkets, seven days a week), shops of over 280m2 are limited to six hours of trading time on Sundays.
Smaller retailers are not subject to the same limitations and, of course, neither are online retailers, who operate round the clock. If larger retailers are able to extend their opening hours, this could have an impact on smaller retailers and online retailers, especially during busy periods such as Christmas. Analysts will be watching with interest to gauge any material impact of this relaxation of trading laws.
Another concern for smaller retailers is the proposed introduction of the National Living Wage, due to rise to £9p/h by 2020. While larger retailers may be able to absorb these extra costs, smaller ones may not. James Lowman, the chief executive of the Association of Convenience Stores said: “The introduction of a compulsory living wage will have a devastating impact on thousands of convenience stores.”
Taxation is another area where George Osborne made some significant changes. The headline announcements were:
• Confirmation that fuel duty is frozen for the rest of this year
• New Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) bands are to be introduced, with revenues eventually going towards a new Roads Fund by 2020
• Corporation tax cut to 18% by 2019
• Corporation tax payment dates brought forward
• Continued crackdown on tax avoidance, tax fraud, offshore trusts and hidden economy businesses
• Reformation of non-domicile (non-dom) tax to revoke permanent non-dom tax status
• 40p income tax threshold to rise to £43,000 from next year
• No inheritance tax on estates lower than £1m
So far, the government is making good on its pledge not to increase VAT. However, if the government goes ahead with its pre-election promise to legislate against tax rises in this parliament and more government income is needed, then excise duties may be increased.
This was very much a budget at the start of a government and the Chancellor clearly has his eye on the longer term as can be seen by the timescale of these new measures.
However, the cautious optimism about economic growth must be tempered with the worrying news from China. China is currently fighting off a run on the markets. If it is not successful, the cautious optimism we heard yesterday may not last much longer.