Following the UK Chancellor's Autumn Statement on Wednesday
5 December 2012, draft provisions of the Finance Bill 2013 were
published on Tuesday 11 December. This update summarises tax
announcements which are likely to be most relevant to our practice.
It is not a comprehensive summary and does not cover (in
particular) many measures primarily relevant to individuals, small
businesses, or specific industries other than the oil and gas
sector.
RATES
Mainstream corporation tax
The main corporation tax rate will be reduced from 24 percent to
23 percent from April 2013 (as previously announced in the March
2012 Budget), but the Chancellor has announced a further reduction
to bring it to 21 percent from April 2014. The Chancellor
emphasised that this would be the lowest rate of any major western
economy and "is an advert for our country that says: come
here; invest here; create jobs here; Britain is open for
business."