If you put together: the first female UK Chancellor delivering a fiscal statement for Labour for the first time in fourteen years which included raising taxes by forty billion and sprinkle with a touch of Diwali fireworks – what do you get? The most discussed Budget in some time (putting Liz Truss’s mini Budget to one side of course…!).

The Shaw Gibbs group seized the opportunity to bring together clients and contacts over six events on the 31 October to discuss the changes. The events, which were based in Basingstoke, Northampton, London, Guildford, Oxford and Winchester, each presented a panel of experts from Shaw Gibbs, Sestini & Co, Martin and Company and Alliotts who are all members of the expanding Shaw Gibbs Group. The panels comprised of members of the private client, corporation tax and non-domiciled tax sides of the business.

Naomi Stewart, Partner at Martin and Company and Head of Tax for Shaw Gibbs featured on the  panel discussions in Basingstoke and Winchester. She comments

“This was an opportunity not to be missed and we were pleased to be able to provide support to our clients and professional contacts in presenting a detailed analysis of the Budget.

Employers are facing the brunt of the tax rises, contributing an estimated £25bn through a combination of an increase in the rate of national insurance and a reduction in the threshold at which it is paid. With higher minimum wages, higher business rates, and new workers’ rights, some businesses will be feeling the pressure of this decision and the consequential impact on workers is yet to be seen.

The increase in the employers’ national insurance had of course been anticipated, and thankfully some announcements were not as severe as feared. However, the impact of a reduction in inheritance tax relief for family businesses and farmers is likely to be gravely felt and the agricultural sector, in particular, has been rocked by the news. At a time when food security and sustainability is of widespread concern, the attack on IHT business and agricultural reliefs combined with a continued freezing of the farming budget will impact the affordability of growth and investment across the sector which should not be underestimated. We continue to work with our clients, both in the rural sector and otherwise, to help them manage succession and to provide clear guidance at a time of great uncertainty.

On a more positive note, the Corporate Tax Roadmap released with the Budget is a step forward in providing some certainty for businesses looking to make capital investment, and we were pleased to see the recognition for a need for improvement in tax administration for companies.”

Sally Addis a Corporate Lawyer for Gardner Leader who attended the Oxford session adds

“The changes to CGT rates were anticipated and we worked hard to ensure many of our clients’ sales of shares and assets were done before the budget.  As it turned out, the increase was at the lower end of the spectrum and it seems unlikely that it will have a negative impact on M&A transactions going forward.  The delay in implementing changes to Business Asset Disposal Relief was very welcome to our smaller entrepreneur and family business clients who would have been unfairly disadvantaged by an immediate loss of this important relief.

Shaw Gibbs’ breakdown of the budget in the event held in Oxford provided a clear analysis of the key issues.  There remain many detailed changes in the budget which we will be drilling down into over the coming days and weeks.“

Rachel Sestini, Partner of Sestini & Co and one of the more recent members of the Shaw Gibbs Group presented at both the Northampton and Oxford events. She was unsurprised to see the abolishment of the non-domiciled tax regime given the manifesto.

“I enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the measures Rachel Reeves put in place with my colleagues in the Shaw Gibbs Group and was so pleased we were able to spark lively debate with the audiences.

I have many clients who will be impacted by the removal of the non-domicile regime however, the reinstatement of repatriation relief will go some way to mitigate this.

A welcome change is the extension of overseas workday relief to four years from the previous three years. Employees coming to the UK can now receive relief for up to 30% of their earnings whilst still enjoying 100% of their salary in the UK. This should help employers to help attract talent to the UK.”

Amber Wealth Creation who had advisers attending in four of the six locations, have seen up uptick in advisory work on the lead up to the Budget, based purely on the anticipated changes to IHT.  Kurt McSweeney, Senior Financial Planner for Amber Wealth said

“Pensions being subject to IHT is something that we have not seen in the profession for a long time. The changes, which come into effect in 2027 will have a significant impact on decisions to lifetime gift. Of course this means that clients must balance how much to gift with what they need to comfortably live on.

The Amber Wealth advisers enjoyed the Shaw Gibbs events yesterday, They were very well organised and brilliantly executed , meeting the array of business owners, professional advisers and the Shaw Gibbs teams during the networking session was also incredibly useful. Thanks for having us along!”

The Shaw Gibbs Budget summary can be viewed here.