Pre-budget report unlikely this month
Speculation is mounting that the chancellor's pre-budget report will be delivered in November despite earlier reports that it would be on 31 October.
There are also concerns that it will largely ignore the interests of business.
With a general election likely in either March or May, experts believe that Gordon Brown will use the pre-budget report to clear the way for individual tax reforms.
Tax experts expect the report to focus on social issues and with just two weeks to go and with no word from the Treasury, the likelihood of a 31 October launch is receding.
Hopes were high that Brown might do something about IR35 or address many of the niggling problems with taper relief. There is also speculation that the VAT on houses would be up for consideration.
But the overwhelming feeling is that the Treasury is playing its cards close to its chest.
One expert said: ‘We don’t seem to be very close these days, there’s very little unofficial coming out of the Treasury.’
However Brown has been on a pre-budget report consultation tour since the 9 October during which he has been talking about Working Families Tax Credit, the New Deal for Lone Parents.
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