Alison Rummens of Alexander Myerson & Co gives her reflections on the Budget 2015.

She said:

“We welcome the penalties for the professionals that assist their clients with tax evasion. Minimising tax liabilities legally is what we aim for, it’s the evasion which need to be tackled.

“Automatic gift aid for charities increases from £5,000 to £8,000. However with so many deserving but struggling charities in operation we suspect local charities would have wished for a greater increase.

“Class 2 national insurance being abolished provides a saving of £143 for the self employed. The increase of the personal allowance from £10,000 to £10,800 provides further tax relief.

“News of the Annual Tax Return being abolished and replaced by a digital tax return I suspect will be fraught with difficulty. Rolling out this new system to individuals who currently prepare their own tax returns, HMRC will be under pressure to ensure the system is up and running with few teething problems.

“The chancellor hinting at an autumn review of the Annual Investment Allowance which encourages capital expenditure cannot come soon enough for capital intensive businesses. The current limit of £500,000 with a planned future decrease to £25,000 will certainly not be welcomed by business owners, so uncertainty remains on the extent of any decrease.

“We welcome the Chancellors proposal to implement that basic rate tax payers could receive up to £1,000 of interest tax free and up to £500 for higher rate tax payers.”