After several years of gradually cutting corporation tax rates from 28% to 21% (and 20% by April 2015) the Chancellor left the broad base of business taxes unchanged in this Budget.
Instead he focused on exports and investment incentives.
The amount of money available to help fund exports has doubled to £3bn a year and the interest rates charged by government on any export guarantee loans has been cut, by a third to the ‘lowest permitted levels’.
At the same time, the annual investment allowance (the amount firms can claim for tax relief when they invest in qualifying plant and machinery) has been doubled to £500,000 and the scheme extended to the end of 2015.
The Chancellor claimed the move meant “99% of firms would get 100% tax allowance” on their capital investments.
There was also a package of measures, valued at £7bn, to cut energy bills for manufacturers and British business.
