CBI publishes wishlist for 2018 Autumn Budget

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has published its wishlist ahead of the Autumn Budget, which is set to be delivered on Monday 29 October.

Within its Budget submission, the CBI outlines ways to ‘unlock enterprise, increase the country’s competitiveness and attract more investors’.

Carolyn Fairbairn, Director General of the CBI, has urged Chancellor Philip Hammond to focus on three key areas in order to ‘unlock growth’:

• Overhaul the UK’s business rates model to ensure firms can invest and grow
• Make the Apprenticeship Levy ‘work effectively’ by raising the limit on transfers and reducing the cap for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 10% to 5%
• Review the capital allowances regime, with a focus on new technology, and with a view to increasing the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) to £500,000 from its current figure of £200,000.

The CBI’s Budget submission also puts forward several policy recommendations, including delivering the world’s ‘most competitive’ R&D tax credit; delaying the introduction of new tax rules, such as the off-payroll working rules in the private sector, until April 2020; and creating an online ‘one-stop shop’ for firms’ Brexit queries.

Commenting on the wishlist, Ms Fairbairn said: ‘As we near the end of Brexit negotiations, the world’s gaze is fixed on these shores. This Budget is a pivotal moment and a chance to showcase the UK as an open, collaborative and confident nation.’