13.28: Tax, jobs and growth are predictably bones of contention in this pre-Budget report – interesting that a small increase in NIC will be more controversial than a huge tax on bank bonuses. Thanks for reading!
13.27: Nick Clegg stands up and asks whether the tax on bank bonuses will curb the bonus culture or will it curb loans to people and businesses?
13.26: Apparently, Tories bought Google Adwords such as ‘Budget’ and ‘Treasury’ that link to the Tory website. Smart stuff!13.23: Business owner on Twitter: "Darling has just definitely lost the general election for Labour. Too little, in the wrong places, too late. Useless."13.20: George Osborne stands up and accuses Darling of electioneering before claiming that families will be paying off his policies for years.
13.19: Retailers who employ people are unlikely to love this Report…13.18: Increase in national insurance, starting from earnings of 20k pa – ouch!13.14: £5bn in spending cuts to be found by individual government departments…
13.10: Spending cuts to follow. " We make these decisions from a position of strength," says Darling to roars of laughter from MPs.
13.09: Sticking to spending plans for next year – £31bn or just over two per cent next year.
13.09: "Tough measures" on the taxation of off-shore bank accounts – targeting top two per cent of incomes mainly.
13.08: Reduced pension tax relief for people earning more than £150,000 + employer contributions included.13.05: Here’s the big one! Bonuses to be taxed at 50 per cent above £25,000 to be paid by the banks themselves, not employees – that’s to encourage banks to improve their capital base.
13.05: Strategic Investment fund will be expanded by £200m13.04: Chancellor to introduce a 10 per cent corporation tax rate on income which stems from patents in the UK.13.03: Govt will continue to invest in creative technologies – pharma and biotech to benefit most13.01: Funding for up to 10,000 low-income graduates to take up apprenticeships.13.00: Electric cars to be exempted from company car tax for five years + 100 per cent tax exemption for electric commercial vans12.57: For those of you betting on the length of the pre-Budget speech, it’s expected to last about 50mins.
12.56: loan guarrantee schemes extended meaning £500m in new loans to small businesses.
12.54: Acknowledges SMEs finding it hard to get credit
12.54: Darling promises the ‘lowest corporation tax of G7 countries’
12.52: Because of the severity of the recession the Chancellor’s forecast for borrowing this year is £178bn (up £3bn on ex[pectations).12.51: Objective to get all bank bailout money back + the related fees for taxpayers.
12.49: Forecast of 3.5% economic growth 2011-12, inflation to hit three per cent next year before falling.12.47: http://twitpic.com/ss9ba – PBR light relief – Alistair Darling christmas Santa or Satan? Thanks to Alex Bellinger.12.43: Darling has ‘guaranteed’ work to under-24 year olds out of work for more than six months – employers take note!12.42: £30m of existing resources allocated to "help industry on Teeside"
12.40: Increase in corporation tax for SMEs is delayed (it will eventually go up by 1p in the pound)
12.39: Empty property relief to be extended to 2011
12.38: VAT to return to 17.5 per cent in January as planned.
12.37: So far this is a repeat of the Budget and the pre-Budget report 2008 – global issues; signs of life; no complacency…
12.36pm: Darling says there are signs of a recovery in world manufacturing and house prices + demand abroad – which will benefit British businesses.
Alistair Darling is due to deliver his speech at 12.30pm.
Related articles:All the PBR news here on Real BusinessDarling to banks: ‘Invest in small firms’BCC calls for cuts across the board
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