Comment by Sally Grimwood, Tax Director,
Deloitte
The big news on recessionary measures wasn't so much help
being offered to those suffering genuine hardship, as the tax rises
announced for high earners from April 2010 will go towards putting
the economy back onto a sustainable footing.
On the plus side, the Chancellor confirmed the Business Payment
Support scheme will be extended. 100,000 taxpayers in financial
difficulties have deferred £1.8 billion across all the taxes,
and the extension beyond the current six month limit is
welcomed.
Less happily, we didn't see much additional help for
businesses making tax losses. As things stand, such businesses can
carry back as much tax loss as they like to the previous year
(assuming that the previous year was profitable), and £50k
for three years. This £50k 3 year carry-back relief has been
extended to losses being made this year as well. Although the
£50,000 carry-back is nice, it's only worth around
£10k in cash tax
