Mr Hammond made clear some while ago that he wanted his Spring Statement to be a short financial briefing rather than a mini-Budget, complete with rabbit-out-of-hat announcements. Although his speech ran to 25 minutes, rather than the 15-20 that had … Continue reading →

February saw a dramatic return of volatility to global stock markets. On Friday 2 February, after most of the world’s share markets had finished for the week, the Dow Jones Index dropped by 666 points in a day. Never mind … Continue reading →

HMRC has published its annual assessment of the cost of tax reliefs. Every January HMRC publishes a table of ‘Estimated costs of principal tax reliefs’. Any Chancellor facing a budget deficit is bound to run his eyes down the list … Continue reading →

On 13 March, the Chancellor will present a Spring Statement to the House of Commons, not a Budget. The next Budget should be in the autumn, probably November. The rationale for the revised schedule is to give more time to … Continue reading →