UK Pre-Budget 2005 - Business
Resources
‘Smash and grab’ raid on oil and gas industry
Gordon Brown was accused of carrying out a ‘smash and grab’ raid on the oil and gas industry after his decision to increase the corporation tax charge on producers, raising a massive £6.5bn over the next three years.
Tax on commercial landowners looks likely
A new tax on commercial landlowners looked likely despite a flurry of protest from business groups in the run-up to the pre-Budget report.
Companies told to ‘use or lose’ import gas capacity
Gordon Brown has thrown his weight behind last-minute efforts to avert threatened power cuts this winter, using his pre-Budget report speech to warn companies they must “use or lose” their capacity to import gas.
Reform of red tape for financial services
The government set out a ten-point plan for reforming the way financial services are regulated in an attempt to ease the burden of regulation on banks and other companies.
Property industry welcomes Reits go-ahead
Gordon Brown delighted the property industry by giving the go-ahead for the creation of real estate investment trusts (Reits) next year.
Plan dropped for overall consumer protection body
Plans to set up a consumer “super regulator” have been abandoned in the wake of lobbying by business and existing watchdogs. The U-turn was revealed in the pre-Budget report, but omitted from the chancellor’s speech.
Plumbers find their loophole plugged
Tax break to help the self-employed is closed to raise an extra £530m in 2008-09 in “second largest cash-raid” of the PBR
Software industry welcomes tax credits
The UK software industry welcomed the Chancellor’s plans to improve access to research and development tax credits for smaller companies, but said the pre-Budget plans did not go far enough to incentivise larger companies to keep research work in the UK.
Film credit welcomed as ‘best news’ in years
The film industry was rejoicing after Gordon Brown announced his new film tax credit scheme. The chancellor said the government was guaranteeing a tax credit worth 16 per cent for large budget films.
