Budget 2008 Media Room

This site is designed for journalists, to give you fast access to the facts
If you need Budget views and de-mystification of tax measures, please contact Margot Cowhig, corporate communications tax manager on 020 7694 4246 or the KPMG press office on 020 7694 8773. Find out Who's Who In Tax here.

Budget Press Releases

12 March 2008
New green car tax relief unlikely to make big difference
Commenting on today's announcement that tax relief will now be available for businesses who choose low carbon-emitting cars, David Woodward, head of capital allowances at KPMG, said:

12 March 2008
Bingo industry out of luck
“The budget has failed to provide a much-needed boost for Britain’s beleaguered bingo halls,” says Mark Summerfield, Head of Gaming at KPMG.

12 March 2008
One year deferral of IFRS
Commenting on today’s announcement that International Financial Reporting Standards would not be implemented in the Government’s accounts until the financial year 2009-2010, Greg McIntosh, director in the public sector audit practice at KPMG, said: “Preparation is key to the successful implementation of IFRS - certainly, our experience of the introduction of IFRS into the private sector was that the companies that started the earliest fared the best.

12 March 2008
New budget blow for British film industry
Commenting on HMRC’s announcement today to restrict tax relief on film investment schemes, Lucy Elwes, senior tax manager KPMG’s UK media practice, said: “Today’s announcement means it will no longer be possible for individuals to offset losses from their film investments against their other income, unless they play an active part in the management of the film business.

12 March 2008
Long on words but short on action on competitiveness, says KPMG
Commenting on today’s announcement, Adam Bainbridge, head of corporate tax at KPMG in the UK, said: “Today’s budget contained plenty of words on the UK’s tax competitiveness but not enough action. Despite the Chancellor’s comment that the UK has ‘the most competitive corporation tax regime in the G7’ and ‘a stable tax regime’, the fact is that since 2000, the UK’s corporate tax rate has fallen from the fourth most competitive in 2000 to around 20th in the enlarged EU - and has dropped from the eighth most competitive to 20th among OECD countries. And in a KPMG survey last year, just two percent of respondents thought the UK had the most competitive tax regime."

12 March 2008
Non-dom concessions don’t go far enough
Carolyn Steppler, tax director at KPMG, said: “Non-doms who have been in the UK for only seven years will be pleased to hear that they may have been granted one year’s grace before the £30,000 tax charge applies – details published today suggest that the residency test before the charge bites is to be extended to eight out of eleven years, rather than eight out of ten".

12 March 2008
New rules erode UK competitiveness
Commenting on today’s budget, Chris Morgan, Head of International Corporate Tax at KPMG in the UK, said: “Despite all the talk of how competitive the UK remains, the detail unveiled in today’s budget suggests precisely the opposite. Within the 270 pages of 107 budget notices published today are details of new rules around financing structures and the way in which UK headquartered companies’ foreign profits are taxed. Many companies will face a hike in the effective tax rate they pay on their worldwide profits as a result.

12 March 2008
HMRC Powers
Commenting on HMRC’s announcement today about its ongoing review of enforcing tax compliance, Paul Harrison, tax partner at KPMG in the UK, said: “HMRC confirmed today that new legislation regarding is powers to enforce tax compliance will be included in this year’s Finance Bill, following a period of consultation which ended last week.

12 March 2008
Green measures: marginal impact on carbon emissions
According to Frank Sangster, Head of KPMG's Environmental Tax and Incentives Group, today's budget will have only a marginal impact on UK carbon emissions.

12 March 2008
EU-driven changes to R&D tax credit regime to hit struggling SMEs
Commenting on changes to the R&D tax credit regime announced in today’s budget, David O’Keeffe, Head of the R&D tax credits team at KPMG in the UK, said: “The UK government wants to increase the number of small and medium-sized companies (‘SMEs’) that will qualify for R&D tax credits but since this counts as EU state aid it is having to jump through a number of hoops in order to get approval."

12 March 2008
Derrick Parkes, Energy Tax Partner at KPMG comments on the oil tax reforms
“UK oil companies will be pleased that the Chancellor resisted the urge to increase tax rates on their profits despite very high oil prices. “But the Government has stopped the offset of investment management costs against UK oil and gas profits. In doing so the Chancellor expects to raise an additional £150m per year.

12 March 2008
‘Hardly the stuff of crises,’ says Andrew Smith, chief economist at KPMG
“The global credit crisis, a slowing economy and public finances approaching their limits made for the most difficult budget backdrop since Labour came to power. “Faced with the dilemma that tax cuts would support growth but blow the fiscal rules apart, while tax increases might improve the public finances but de-rail the economy in the process, the Chancellor opted for the middle course and presented a broadly neutral budget this year.”

12 March 2008
Continued mixed messages for the UK’s Middle Market
Commenting on today’s announcement Tom McGinness, Head of Middle Market Tax of KPMG in the UK, said: “The Chancellor’s budget contained some very mixed messages for the UK’s Middle Market today. One the one hand he made many references to how he intends to help and develop the entrepreneurial sprit in the UK with initiatives such as the Entrepreneurs Relief, and an increase in the Small Firms Loans Scheme which has been extended to all SMEs – which is good news".

11 March 2008
Credit crunch yet to bite, says UK business
Majority of executives upbeat about prospects despite economic slowdown. No adverse impact seen from tighter borrowing conditions, KPMG survey finds.

6 March 2008
More green taxes may not be best route to environmental protection, says KPMG
Governments in many large economies may be turning away from taxation as a tool to force environmental change, in favour of a range of more closely targetted green measures.

4 March 2008
Storm clouds gathering : little room for manoeuvre: Budget 2008 preview
With budget day fast approaching, the Chancellor finds himself rather boxed in by his predecessor’s rules at a time when the economic outlook is looking distinctly unclear.

29 February 2008
KPMG urges the Chancellor to present a business-friendly, green budget
With less than two weeks to go before the Chancellor delivers his first full Budget speech, KPMG says now’s the time to do more for small to medium-sized businesses.

31 January 2008
Budget date announced: 12 March 2008
Commenting the announcement that Alistair Darling will announce the 2008 Budget on 12 March, KPMG’s chief economist, Andrew Smith, said: