Speaking at Labour’s Conference for Business on 1 February 2024, Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor, set out some of the party’s high-level plans for business tax, should it take the reins of government, with a focus on providing stability and certainty for business, as Reeves explained: ‘If we expect business to invest in Britain, then tax rates cannot shoot up and down like a yo-yo, according to each political whim.’
Key tax proposals outlined at the conference include:
capping corporation tax at 25% for the next Parliament;
maintaining full expensing and the annual investment allowance;
‘Stable R&D tax credits, 10-year R&D budgets and a new Regulatory Innovation Office’;
a commitment to one Budget every autumn ‘at least four months before the new tax year’; and
publishing a ‘roadmap for business taxation’ within the six months of taking power.
Looking at the UK on the international playing field, Reeves also outlined a ‘basic expectation that businesses pay the tax they owe, backed up by multilateral action for a fair tax system: a strong global minimum rate of corporation tax, a deal on the taxation of digital multinationals, and concerted action to tackle tax avoidance.’
Published alongside the business conference, the party’s Business Partnership for Growth document acknowledges the importance of certainty, allowing businesses to plan for the future: ‘Business needs the certainty of economic and tax decisions being taken carefully and with the long term in mind, not veering wildly in the quest for political advantage.’
The party’s Plan for Small Business also includes a commitment to scrapping and replacing the existing business rates system, although the proposals have yet to be worked up fully.
The key tax proposals received a warm welcome from the CBI. Its Chief Executive, Rain Newton-Smith, hailed the commitment to a business tax roadmap as ‘the right kind of big choice and bold move that can give businesses the certainty they need to invest over the years and decades to come’.
‘To get business investment firing on all cylinders we need holistic, long-term reform of the entire tax landscape to unlock its true potential and the UK’s competitive edge,’ Newton-Smith said. ‘Labour’s commitment to maintain incentives that drive investment and growth – like full expensing, the annual investment allowance, R&D tax credits and the patent box can do just that. Giving certainty that the headline corporation tax rate will not rise will also give businesses clarity and ensure the UK remains competitive.’
Speaking at Labour’s Conference for Business on 1 February 2024, Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chancellor, set out some of the party’s high-level plans for business tax, should it take the reins of government, with a focus on providing stability and certainty for business, as Reeves explained: ‘If we expect business to invest in Britain, then tax rates cannot shoot up and down like a yo-yo, according to each political whim.’
Key tax proposals outlined at the conference include:
capping corporation tax at 25% for the next Parliament;
maintaining full expensing and the annual investment allowance;
‘Stable R&D tax credits, 10-year R&D budgets and a new Regulatory Innovation Office’;
a commitment to one Budget every autumn ‘at least four months before the new tax year’; and
publishing a ‘roadmap for business taxation’ within the six months of taking power.
Looking at the UK on the international playing field, Reeves also outlined a ‘basic expectation that businesses pay the tax they owe, backed up by multilateral action for a fair tax system: a strong global minimum rate of corporation tax, a deal on the taxation of digital multinationals, and concerted action to tackle tax avoidance.’
Published alongside the business conference, the party’s Business Partnership for Growth document acknowledges the importance of certainty, allowing businesses to plan for the future: ‘Business needs the certainty of economic and tax decisions being taken carefully and with the long term in mind, not veering wildly in the quest for political advantage.’
The party’s Plan for Small Business also includes a commitment to scrapping and replacing the existing business rates system, although the proposals have yet to be worked up fully.
The key tax proposals received a warm welcome from the CBI. Its Chief Executive, Rain Newton-Smith, hailed the commitment to a business tax roadmap as ‘the right kind of big choice and bold move that can give businesses the certainty they need to invest over the years and decades to come’.
‘To get business investment firing on all cylinders we need holistic, long-term reform of the entire tax landscape to unlock its true potential and the UK’s competitive edge,’ Newton-Smith said. ‘Labour’s commitment to maintain incentives that drive investment and growth – like full expensing, the annual investment allowance, R&D tax credits and the patent box can do just that. Giving certainty that the headline corporation tax rate will not rise will also give businesses clarity and ensure the UK remains competitive.’
