Hazel Platt, Partner at Grant Thornton in the East of England, said:
“An ambitious budget with business being served a spoon full of sugar today, with the medicine to follow tomorrow.
“Pushing the well trailed rise in corporation tax to 2023 may make it a little easier swallow but it’s still a large relative increase and a potential threat to inward investment in the long term.
“The best way to eat away at the record levels of borrowing is to stimulate growth, and so the new Super Deduction of 130% on capital expenditure, alongside other measures to support digitisation and innovation in the mid-market, is welcome news.
“Felixstowe being named one of the eight new Freeport locations and an incoming Consultation on R&D tax credits, signals that more incentives for innovation and growth could be on the horizon.
“While the chancellor is continuing to use fiscal firepower to help businesses get through the pandemic – with the new Levelling-Up fund, Recovery Loans scheme, and the extension of furlough – the fact that all this must be paid for in the medium term was clearly delivered.”
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