Small to medium sized businesses were specifically mentioned by Alistair Darling in his first
Budget speech in front of the House of Commons yesterday.
Announcing a number of measures to continue stability and certainty and introduce new
opportunities for entrepreneurs, he told the Commons his aim was to support small and medium
enterprises now and in the longer term.
Key aspects of the speech included:
* Simplifying taxes for SMEs.
* Bringing in the new Capital Gains Tax rate of 18%, but with the entrepreneurs’ relief
concession announced in January.
* £12.5million to encourage more women entrepreneurs.
* Improving access to finance for SMEs, including increasing investment in the Small Firms
Loans Guarantee scheme, tax relief under the Enterprise Investment scheme and tax relief under the
Enterprise Management Incentive scheme.
* “Radical new proposals” to limit regulation from Whitehall.
* Encouraging SMEs to win more government contracts.
For more information on these measures and the rest of the Budget speech, visit:
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/budget
Budget 2008