Panacea?

KEY POINTS

• Some help for small companies.
• Further avoidance measures introduced.
• Chancellor makes substantive changes to tax rates.
• Income shifting proposals are deferred.

The Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report brought something of a mixed bag with some supposed treats e.g. the reduction in VAT from 17.5% to 15% and deferring of the increase rate of small companies' rate to April 2009.

However there were also a number of tricks which although not coming into effect for two years will be to the detriment of most taxpayers.

As always while Mr Darling announced the most exciting changes in his speech the PBR notices contained several other interesting developments.

Corporation tax

The planned increase of the small companies' rate of corporation tax from 21% to 22% from 1 April 2009 has been deferred until 1...