“This was not a Budget for growth” - top Manchester accountant expresses 'disappointment' at new budget

David Kitson said: “Budget 2025 was broadly as expected, but the cumulative impact suggests a Budget prioritising revenue raising over economic growth.”

“Despite all the leaks, two announcements caught people off guard: the halving of Capital Gains Tax relief on Employee Ownership Trust disposals, and the 2 percentage point increase in tax rates on dividend, rental and investment income. These are substantial stealth taxes on investors and business owners.

“Most disappointing was the absence of corporation tax rate reductions and no mention of reassessing the Quarterly Instalment regime. Currently, companies with profits over £1.5m must use QIPs to pay their corporation tax during the accounting year. I would have liked to see this threshold reviewed and phased to minimise the cashflow hit in year one. This means businesses aren’t simultaneously required to pay instalments for the current year as well as the balance from the previous year when they weren’t yet on QIPs.

“I would still like to see meaningful reform to Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief. A big help would be to exempt many small businesses or to structure it so that when heirs eventually sell the business, they pay CGT on gains since the original purchase, not just gains since inheritance. This ensures the tax is eventually collected (via CGT) while keeping family businesses intact.

“This doesn’t appear to be a Budget for growth. Businesses need certainty and incentives to invest. Instead, they face taxation by a thousand cuts.”