PM postpones corporation tax cut
The Prime Minister has announced that planned cuts to corporation tax are to be put on hold. The rate paid by firms on their profits was due to fall from 19% to 17% next April but Boris Johnson said the potential £6bn cost would be better served going on "national priorities" such as the NHS. Mr Johnson told the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference that the UK already had the lowest rate of corporation tax of "any major economy", highlighting that corporation tax had already fallen from 28p to 19p in the pound since 2010, adding that further cuts would be "postponed". He added that the move comes as the Conservatives “believe emphatically in fiscal prudence”. Mr Johnson also said the Tories plan to lower business rates, saying a reduction - “particularly for SMEs” - will boost the high street. He also said employers’ national insurance contributions – which he described as a "jobs tax" – will come down. Elsewhere at the CBI event, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his party would reform business rates if elected. He also suggested Labour could raise corporation tax from 19% up to “2010 levels”, when it stood at 28%. Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said she would scrap business rates, replacing the system with a levy on landowners. She added that abolishing business rates would cut taxes in 92% of local authority areas and help rebalance the economy.