Budget 2009

Ah, yes, the Budget. I was in the Highlands of Scotland on Budget Day, and was fortunate to be able to find Internet access in a pub, an hour or two after the Chancellor sat down. The fact that it's taken me several weeks to comment on it might give you a clue as to how exciting I found it.

Even now it's difficult to get eloquent about the VAT registration limit going up (to £68k) or a change in the fuel scale charge. For the record, though, here's the merest flavour of the other changes:

Option to tax – a new "Automatic Permission Condition" being brought in. This will allow many more businesses to "opt to tax", without having to seek permission first.

5% rate for children’s safety seats extended to include bases from 1 July 2009

There was an announcement about a few changes to happen in 2010, including minor changes to the "Place of supply" rules and the intra-EU VAT refund system. The latter change should make it easier for UK businesses to achieve refunds of VAT incurred in other Member States.


www.davebrownvat.com