Kwasi Kwarteng has announced the Office of Tax Simplification will be wound down, with Treasury officials tasked instead with simplifying tax measures.
The chancellor also announced that the 2017 and 2021 reforms to IR35 self employment rules would be scrapped. “We will continue to keep compliance under review,” he said.
Kwarteng also announced that the duty rises in beer, cider and wine will be cancelled and VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors will be introduced.
Kwarteng Kwarteng has defended lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses, saying the UK economy has always relied on a strong financial sector.
It was important that London stayed competitive against other cities such as Paris, Frankfurt or New York, he argued. The cap had only driven up bankers’ salaries or driven activity away from the City of London, he said. “We are going to get rid of it . . . to reaffirm the UK’s status as the world’s financial services centre I will set out an ambitious package of regulatory reforms,” he told the House of Commons.
Kwarteng announced a set of tax incentives for companies including accelerated tax reliefs for structures and buildings. He also said there would be no stamp duty on purchases of land for commercial or new residential properties.
Meanwhile he confirmed that corporation tax would not be lifted from 19p to 25p, a policy promised by his predecessor Rishi Sunak which would have raised £17bn a year from businesses.
UK government will undertake a major shake-up of the planning laws to stimulate infrastructure building and aid its growth agenda.
The chancellor told MPs: “Our plan for major infrastructure is too slow and fragmented and getting slower not quicker; we have to end this.”
He added that the new approach will “streamline assessments, appraisals and consultations and end duplications” as well as “unpick patchwork of planning restrictions and EU-derived laws”.
The chancellor confirmed that the government will introduce strike laws to ensure minimum services are delivered and will seek to encourage 120,000 people on universal credit benefits to “take active steps to take more active work or face having their benefits reduced”.
The chancellor confirmed that the energy rescue scheme for households and businesses is expected to cost £60bn for the first six months from October.
He argued that his energy package would reduce inflation by five percentage points and cut the cost of servicing index-linked government gilts.
Kwarteng said the government would take “difficult decisions” to try to achieve 2.5 per cent annual growth of the economy through tax incentives and deregulation. “That is how we will compete successfully with dynamic economies around the world,” he said.
The chancellor said that he would set out a new fiscal plan in the coming months and promised that the Office for Budget Responsibility would produce independent forecasts before the end of the year.
