Budget date set for 24 March
Gordon Brown has confirmed that the Budget will be delivered in "two weeks' time", fuelling speculation that there will be a general election on 6 May.
The prime minister took centre stage by divulging the Budget date in a speech at Thomson Reuters in Canary Wharf. The Treasury is expected to confirm in a written statement to parliament later today, that chancellor Alistair Darling will present his annual Budget to the House of Commons on Wednesday 24 March.
This year's Budget comes at a pivotal point both financially and politically. The chancellor has to strike a balance between tackling an annual public deficit hovering around £180m and sustaining 2010's precarious economic recovery. The significance of his Budget decisions will be amplified within a few days, when the prime minister is expected to launch his general election campaign while the debate on the Finance Bill is still taking place.
Depending on the election result, we could end up going through the whole Budget process again in June if the incoming chancellor wants to introduce emergency fiscal measures.
Whatever scenario develops in the next few weeks, AccountingWEB.co.uk will be there with our unbeatable Budget coverage, once again sponsored by Sage. From now until well after the 24th, you can prepare for the big day with the following elements from our market-leading Budget service:
- Budget 2010 previews and coverage – sponsored by Sage
- Tax Essentials 2 Last minute year-end planning guide
- Budget tax predictions from AccountingWEB.co.uk members
- Budget 2010 wishlist poll – which is the most popular measure?
- Live, interactive commentary on Budget speech and announcements
- At-a-glance email bulletin summarising the key measures on the 24th
- Rebecca Benneyworth’s live Budget lecture (2-4pm on Wed 24 March)
- Post-Budget online workshops hosted by Rebecca Benneyworth on Friday 26 March
- Detailed technical follow-ups by our expert correspondents
- Plus the now traditional Sage Sweepstake – Taxhelp.uk MD James McBrearty won a Kindle following November's PBR speech; your prediction could win you a coveted Apple iPad this time around.
Budget day
The most unfortunate thing is that this will be more a election platform than a Budget. The markets will treat it as such and the country will continue to suffer because of uncertainty.
We seem to be aiming for parity with the Euro regardless of what is happening in Greece, once we get that I assuming we will try to match the US dollar. With the way things are going the only place we can afford a holiday will be Southwold but the PM has already booked.
Finance Act 2010
We shall certainly have a Finance Act 2010 before Parliament is dissolved for the General election. I would expect Royal Assent somewhere around 1 April - or even 31 March. Then it will be Easter Recess, and possibly Parliament will be dissolved on either 1 April or it would be as late as 12th/13th for a May election.
Whoever wins the election we shall then have a more weighty Finance (No 2) Act 2010 with Royal Assent around late July. We may (as suggested above) also have another Budget later this year, depending on the outcome at the ballot box.
My comments on the futility of this from a tax point of view are here.
SHEER BLATANT HYPOCRISY
Gordon Brown today made a controversial pledge to freeze the pay of top civil servants, judges, generals and doctors to save £3 billion, as he made a pitch to British voters over his handling of the economy.
The Prime Minister, who also confirmed that the pre-election Budget would be unveiled in two weeks' time, is defying recommendations from the independent salary review bodies to go for small increases in top people's pay. TIMES
Notice how he made this announcement AFTER making sure MPs got their extra £1,000. The sheer blatant hypocrisy is astounding, and gives us a clue (as if we needed one) that this budget will be blatant electioneering with fiddled figures and projections designed to pull the wool over the eyes of the "ordinary" voter.
what a waste of time
Pure electioneering - a complete waste of time as there is no way the Finance Act will pass before the election. If companies wasted time and money the way these wastrels do we'd be in an even bigger economic mess.