The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will come into force on 28 May 2018.

The new legislation will have a big impact on all businesses as they must take extra measures to ensure any data they hold is stored securely. If not they risk severe penalties for data breaches. They must also put in place procedures to erase data where requested to do so. The onus is on the business to be able to prove that they have done this, so they need to keep records. It will also affect businesses who send out unsolicited marketing material. From May 2018 they will need consent before sending mail-shots, whether by email or post.

If you would like to sign up or keep receiving our quarterly e-newsletter, please give your consent here.

There are a number of steps that you can take to reduce the 40% inheritance charge on the value of a deceased’s estate. If the deceased leaves his/her home to children or grandchildren in their will then the inheritance tax threshold is increased by £100,000 to £425,000. For married couples or civil partnerships any unused threshold is added to that of the surviving spouse/partner so the maximum threshold can be up to £850,000.

The amount of inheritance tax can further be reduced by:

• Giving away assets thereby reducing the value of the estate
• Transfers of up to £3,000 per year are exempt from inheritance tax
• Small gifts of up to £250 per person in any year are exempt
• Gifts of up to £5,000 in consideration of marriage are exempt
• Leaving assets to a charity in your will
• There are restrictions where more than 10% of the estate has been left to charity
• Holding assets that are exempt from inheritance tax
• Shares in unincorporated companies and unquoted securities or land or plant or machinery held and used by an unincorporated company or partnership qualify for business property relief and are exempt.
• Take out life insurance
• The inheritance tax is still payable but the insurance pays out on the death of the individual which can then be used to pay the tax.

Inheritance tax planning is a complicated area due to the many anti-avoidance rules so we recommend talking to a tax specialist.

The Chancellor spoke about a “future full of change, full of challenge and, above all, a future full of new opportunities”, promising investment in infrastructure, technology and measures to encourage house building.

However the headlines have focused on the downgrade in growth forecasts. Although current tax revenues are better than originally forecast, the reduction in growth forecasts will mean lower tax revenues in the next few years which limited the Chancellor’s room to ease austerity.

The uncertain economic and political situation meant that the Chancellor had to avoid the problems he faced following his March budget so there were very few major announcements. It may be remembered more for what he did not do rather than what he did announce. There had been speculation that the VAT threshold would be reduced, but fortunately this has not happened. Similarly the March budget change to the self-employed national insurance rate has been shelved.

As always there will be important detail in the Budget small print, but the headlines are:

The Economy	·         The economy continues to grow with three million new jobs created since 2010. ·         Inflation to peak at 3% this quarter before falling back ·         Productivity continues to be weak and growth forecasts have been revised downwards.
Personal tax	·         The income tax personal allowance to increase to £11,850 from April 2018 ·         The higher rate threshold to increase to £46,350 from April 2018 ·         The tax-free dividend allowance will be reduced to £2,000 from April 2018 ·         Annual ISA allowance unchanged at £20,000
Business tax	·         Corporation tax rate for 2018/19 unchanged at 19% ·         From April 2019 royalty payments to low-tax jurisdictions will be liable to income tax ·         R&D tax credit rate increased to 12% ·         Investment Investment Scheme (EIS) limits doubled for investments in knowledge intensice-companies
VAT	·         No change to the £85,000 VAT threshold for next two years
Other taxes	·         Extension to business rate reliefs for small businesses, including small public houses ·         No Stamp Duty land Tax on purchases by first time buyers up to £300,000.
Spending / Investment	·         £44bn to be made available in capital funds, loans and guarantees to encourage house building ·         Increase of £31bn in national productivity investment fund ·         More money for the NHS ·         Additional £10bn for capital investment in the NHS ·         £500m investment in 5G, fibre broadband and AI
Other	·         National living wage increased to £7.83 from April 2018 ·         Seven day waiting period for universal credit removed ·         Changes to planning legislation to encourage house building