The Government will need to significantly raise tax to pay for spending increases announced in today’s Spending Review, say leading audit, tax and business advisory firm, Blick Rothenberg.
Robert Salter, a Director at the firm, said, “Given the size of the Government’s planned spending increases, significant tax rises are inevitable in the coming months.
“The increase in the Defence budget of ca. £.2bn increase in training and apprenticeships will be popular with many businesses. However, sadly in many cases this additional funding may not reach the organizations who need it. This is because many firms are unable to access training funding because of the conditions associated with the apprentice levy.
“The focus on increasing energy capacity and energy provision is very welcome. However, there is a risk that the costs of these major nuclear and carbon capture and storage facilities will significantly overrun, and that delivery deadlines are missed. This has happened in the past with other major UK energy infrastructure products, and the Government must ensure history does not repeat itself again.
“Finally, while Rachel Reeves talked consistently in her Spending Review about economic growth, economic security and the importance of these issues for workers, many measures that the Government have previously announced, such as the increase in employer’s National Insurance Contributions (NIC) have actually increased unemployment.”
