Brown told: keep Budget simple
Chancellor Gordon Brown faced last-minute pressure to keep the Budget simple this week, as accountants called for a moratorium on further red tape for businesses already overwhelmed by administrative changes, writes Chris Quick.
‘Businesses have had to cope with a great deal over the last two years,’ said Arthur Andersen tax partner Bill Dodwell. ‘Businesses need time to take stock.’
Aside from the new corporate tax self-assessment system, the abolition of advance corporation tax and the introduction of the working families tax credit, businesses also face pressures from Year 2000 and the euro.
Accountants blamed the firing of Brown’s controversial spokesman Charlie Whelan earlier this year for the lack of pre-Budget ‘leaks’.