ACCA on the Spring Statement

Lloyd Powell, head of ACCA Cymru/Wales, said:

“Today’s announcements by the Chancellor are likely to be cautiously welcomed by Welsh businesses.

“Small businesses in particular will be pleased to have some breathing space on VAT, with the threshold increased slightly to £90,000. ACCA had called for this given the artificial brake on growth it represents for smaller businesses, combined with the knock-on impact to HMRC of dragging more businesses into this tax regime at a time when service levels are already at historically poor levels.

“We welcome the commitment to further improvements to the R&D tax relief scheme, as well as plans to improve regulation in the tax advice market, to recognise the value of professional agents.

“As well as the effects from the NI cut, VAT registration threshold increase, child benefit changes, alcohol and fuel duty freezes, the Chancellor announced that Wales will be allocated a ‘Barnett consequential’ of £170m. He also announced Levelling Up funding for Welsh projects – £10m for Venue Cymru and £5m for Newport. The Chancellor also announced a £160m deal for the UK government to purchase the site of the planned Wylfa nuclear site in North Wales.

“The Chancellor announced the scrapping of the Furnished Holiday Lets scheme, which gives extra tax reliefs on properties being rented out to holidaymakers. There are more than 11,000 self-catering holiday lets in Wales, according to the Welsh Government’s latest list of properties paying non-domestic rates.

“Whilst a welcome simplification to the tax system overall may boost the availability of rented accommodation locally, the removal of the short-term holiday let regime will be a blow for some. The Welsh Government has already introduced changes to make it harder for holiday lets to be exempt from council tax.”