Business and economic leaders are waiting for Rishi Sunak's budget in March - billed as the second half of Boris Johnson's .
The Budget will set out plans for tax changes, financial support as well as updating on the state of the economy as we get set to emerge from lockdown.
The pandemic has taken its toll on the economy with huge swathes of society still facing weeks if not months of inactivity and relying on grants and loans.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show – up from 5% in the previous quarter and its highest since early 2016.
We have collected insights from financial experts to indicate what may be included in the Spring Budget.
When is the Spring Budget 2021?
Rishi Sunak will deliver the Spring Budget on Wednesday 3 March 3 2021 – almost a year after his last budget on March 11 2020.
He was due to deliver his second Budget in the autumn, but it was cancelled because of the pandemic.
Ahead of the Budget, he said he will set out the next stage of his 'Plan for Jobs' and support through the remainder of the pandemic and recovery.
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What will be announced by Rishi Sunak?
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When Prime Minister Boris Johnson presented his road map out of lockdown, he pledged not to “pull the rug out” from under the 海角视频 economy.
Speaking to the Commons, the Prime Minister said: “For the duration of the pandemic the Government will continue to do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the 海角视频."
Stamp duty holiday extension
The stamp duty holiday introduced in July, which cut the tax rate to 0 per cent for all properties priced £500,000 and under, was due to end on March 31.
But there have been reports that the Chancellor could extend it to the end of June.
Some property experts have warned that the three-month extension may simply shift problems with the housing market – and a potential house price dip – “a few miles down the road”.
Rightmove estimates that 100,000 buyers who agreed a purchase last year are set to lose out, if the deadline remains at March 31.
Richard Donnell, research and insight director at Zoopla, said a potential extension would support sales agreed in January “that had little more than a 50% chance of benefiting from the relief, and will bring a further tranche of buyers into the market in the immediate term”.
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A Treasury spokesman said the department could not speculate on tax ahead of fiscal events.
Furlough scheme and SEISS extension
The Furlough (JSS) scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) are currently set to finish on April 31.
The lockdown route map expects that Covid restrictions will affect jobs, especially in the travel and hospitality industry, until at least May and June.
There have been suggestions that Sunak will .
In the South West, economic leaders have been calling for which makes up a large proportion of jobs in the region.
Kevin Georgel, the Chief Executive of St Austell Brewery has warned that many pubs will not be able to survive until they are allowed to reopen by the Government – and is .
Business rates
The business rates holiday for retail, hospitality and leisure operators for the current financial year is due to come to an end on 31 March, but with ongoing trading restrictions, reports suggest that this , according to the Financial Times.
Scotland has announced it would for a further year.
Corporation Tax
There is speculation that the Treasury is eyeing up a rise in corporation tax as well as capital gains tax and is looking at an overhaul of council tax.
According to Jon Hickman, Corporate Tax Partner at BDO, a limited rise in corporation tax rates for larger companies that have fared well during the pandemic is possible.
"It wouldn’t directly hurt loss-making businesses or small businesses and probably wouldn’t have an immediate impact on consumer spending. If this was introduced alongside a range of investment incentives as part of a post-Brexit ‘corporate tax roadmap’ it is likely to win public support."
It is understood that such a rise would raise funds for the Treasury to cover the cost of extending the furlough scheme and other business support schemes into the summer or perhaps further.
VAT
There have also been suggestions that the VAT cut (the 5% rate) currently in place for for tourism and hospitality businesses will be extended.
Kendra Hann, tax partner at Deloitte said: “It’s likely that the Chancellor could make a short extension to the VAT reduction introduced in summer 2020 for the hospitality sector. These businesses are still being impacted more than most by lockdown restrictions and this could help to ease the burden once they begin reopening.
“The measure is estimated to have cost the Exchequer £4.1bn so far, according to HMRC, so extending this further would certainly counteract tax rises elsewhere to some extent, but the Government will need to balance the impact of this cost with the impact on the sector as a whole.”
Capital Gains Tax
And a rise in Capital Gains tax has been heavily rumoured. Though Deloitte's Rachel McEleney explains that the amount this would raise is likely to be relatively low as very few individuals need to pay CGT - about 250,000 per year. HMRC estimate that raising all CGT rates by 1% would raise an additional £175 million per year but this could be considered alongside other measures to provide a boost to the Exchequer. The average additional charge per affected taxpayer would be about £700 a year.
Beer duty
In PMQs on Wednesday, February 22, the Chancellor was said to be “looking very closely” at the findings of a beer duty review, Boris Johnson said, amid calls to stop “cheap supermarket booze” undercutting pubs and brewers.
Earlier this month, model and publican Jodie Kidd added her voice to a campaign to that had already taken a massive hit through the pandemic.
What would you like to see included in the Spring Budget - be part of the conversation in the comments section below