The Treasury have confirmed that the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt will deliver the 2024 Spring Budget on 6th March.
The Spring Budget will include the government’s tax and spending plans plus new growth and borrowing forecasts.
Online conversation suggests that this could be the last opportunity for the Conservative Government to announce any significant changes to tax policy before the general election.
The next general election must be held before the end of January 2025 but it is up to the Prime Minister to choose when that will be. The confirmed date for the Spring Budget – 6th March 2024 – potentially creates the option open for a general election to be called in May 2024, alongside local elections on 2 May 2024. However, nothing has been declared or confirmed yet.
As it stands, some ministers have suggested that the next Budget may include strong considerations on housing and taxes, owing to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak attempting to narrow the gap with Labour, ahead of any general election over the next year.
Taking a look at the newspapers:
Michael Gove, Housing Secretary suggested to The Times that regimes aimed at cutting costs for first-time buyers could be brought forward, including: support to reduce the size of deposits, or a relaunch of the Help to Buy Scheme.
The Telegraph reported that Rishi Sunak was considering a handful of major tax cuts as he comes under pressure from Tory MPs, with one option likely to be the abolishment of inheritance tax. Is this likely?
It is worth noting that at present, the government have not commented on any of these reports.
James Murray, Labour’s shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, said:
“The next Budget will come after 14 years of economic failure under the Conservatives that have left working people worse off.
The tax burden is set to be the highest in 70 years, with 25 Tory tax rises since the last election alone, and economic growth is on the floor.”
Sarah Olney, spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrat Treasury, commented that it looked very much like “a last throw of the dice”.
“It’s too late for Jeremy Hunt to turn the tide after his record of failure has left us with growth flat-lining and public services at breaking point.”
Jeremy Hunt, has formally commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be presented to Parliament alongside his Spring Budget on 6th March 2024.
