The Budget That Wasn't
This year, as I have done for several years now, I was one of the Financial Times’ (FT) Budget Day commentators. Despite trawling through the enormous number of budget documents, we struggled to find many significant personal financial planning changes.
Extensions to both the stamp duty reductions on property purchases and COVID financial support packages will be welcomed by many. The freezing of most personal tax exemptions, allowances and thresholds - some this year and others next year - seemed mild compared to media reports in the build-up to Budget Day.
But the most significant announcements were missing.
What the news headlines failed to say is that on 23rd March, the government will be publishing several tax consultations. We don't yet know what taxes these consultations will cover but reforming capital gains tax, inheritance tax, pension tax, and property tax could all be in scope.
Amanda Tickel, head of tax policy at Deloitte, recently told the FT: "After the Budget [day] we expect a second report from the Office for Tax Simplification on CGT. The eventual outcome could be increases to Capital Gains Tax by aligning rates more closely to income tax or restricting the range and value of exemptions."
Melissa Geiger, head of tax policy at KPMG, told the FT that she expects to be busier on 23rd March than on Budget Day. And she added: "The consultations will set the agenda for the autumn ... signaling what's going to come."
So, before you get too excited about the budget, I suggest you wait to see what consultation documents are published on 23rd March. That will give us all a good idea of the direction of travel the government has in mind for taxation and who is likely to pay the most for the pandemic.