New corporation tax year begins as the main rate is cut to 21 per cent.
Again this government is cutting tax: why? Because lower taxes on businesses allow employers to employ more people. The rate of corporation tax has fallen as follows:
2011 - 26%
2012 - 24%
2013 - 23%
2014 - 21%
In addition:
•Tax on business investment virtually abolished for most businesses. The annual investment allowance will be doubled to £500,000, and will be extended by a further year to December 2015. This means 99.8 per cent of businesses could pay no tax on investment.
•Business rates reformed so that:
•The annual increase is capped at two per cent;
•The small business rates relief is extended for a further year, so that over half a million of the smallest businesses pay reduced rates and over a third of a million pay no rates at all; and
•Targeted help for the high street in the form of a £1,000 discount for retail properties takes effect, benefitting around 300,000 shops, pubs and restaurants
