Newsletter: 10 July 2020
Rishi's 'British Bounce Back' Summer Economic Update
A bit of a strange one really - I won't go into all of the details as you can access them here
One notable announcement was a new Coronavirus Jobs Bonus of £1,000 for employers of furloughed workers that remain employed by 31 January 2021. I can't help but think that this looks a little off-target as presumably many of those workers would have remained employed regardless?
Even the HMRC boss Jim Harra seems unconvinced:
Two schemes unveiled by UK govt to stem coronavirus job losses may not be value for money for taxpayers, says HMRC CEO - £1,000 bonus to retain furloughed staff and £10 eat-out voucher.
— Prem Sikka (@premnsikka) July 10, 2020
Will fill coffers of corporations and executive pay.https://t.co/b7ecSMxzZf
Other notable announcements were the increase in the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) nil rate to £500,000 (from £125,000) until 31 March 2021 plus the temporary VAT reduction to 5% for businesses in the hospitality sector.
I'll give Rishi kudos for trying new things to stimulate the economy - plus his PR team for coming up with catchy titles for everything!
Although:
I fear that the next proper Budget Statement will be a whole different affair with attempts to rake back the cash handouts via tax rises... Enjoy it while you can!
Some posts from this week's archive:
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