Welcome to our 2006 Budget Summary

Gordon Brown presented his tenth Budget on Wednesday 22 March 2006. Will it prove to be his last? Has he won public and parliamentary support for his bid to become Prime Minister?

He has had a tough job before him in this year’s Budget. His public spending commitments meant choosing between increasing government borrowing or raising more tax revenue.

Tucked away in the vast amount of information which was published were some radical changes which result from Lord Carter’s review of HMRC online services. Businesses and individuals will have to be ready for compulsory online filing of returns from as early as 2008.

Our summary focuses on the issues likely to affect you, your family and your business. To help you decipher what was said we have included our own comments.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us for advice.

Main Budget proposals

• An attack on interest in possession and accumulation and maintenance trusts
• Bringing forward the personal tax return deadline to 30 September from 2008
• Childcare vouchers exemption increased
• Changes to the Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trusts
• Vehicle Excise Duty soars for high emission cars
  

Previous announcements

Some of the changes detailed in this summary have been the subject of earlier announcements. Here is a reminder of some of the more important ones:

• New pensions regime and anti-avoidance measures
• Changes to the tax credits regime
• Changes to small company tax rates
• Relief for the tax effect of UITF 40
• Introduction of UK-REITs
• Significant increases in VAT annual and cash accounting scheme limits