As the owner of a micro-business, I can tell you that the small business sector are going to be incredibly hard hit by this budget, particularly retail, hospitality and any other business where staff are the main expense.
The triple-whammy of increased employer national insurance, increased minimum wage and no reform of business rates means that any business which can will either look to freeze recruitment, freeze pay increases or shed staff. It'll be a good time for companies selling automation solutions and AI replacements for human workers !
I've been looking on the jobs market in case the budget kills my business, and the conclusion is that the majority of what were once middle management jobs are now also minimum wage unless you are in a niche with high qualification requirements and several years experience.
They've kept very quiet about car tax, but petrol-engined vehicles will pay up to double current rates. Not everyone can afford to buy an electric car or afford the £1200+ installation cost of a charging point - the much-touted grants have mostly been withdrawn.
The increase in capital gains tax will starve businesses of investment. Why accept the risk when it's the government that takes the reward ? In the case of ordinary peole, that's money tyhat's already been taxed once through PAYE when it was earned befor ebeing invested.
Oh, and the pension pot thing. That's not children, it's more often inherited by a surviving partner. Most often, that's usually the wife who has quietly sacrificed her career to support a decently earning husband and would be forced to sell the family home without it.
All in all, I'd say it's a budget that works well for the public sector, non-workers (as long as they aren't pensioners) and multinational corporates.
Posted using The BBH Project
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