A gif of a cartoon character of chancellor Kwasi Karteng delivering a budget and climbing a giant beanstalk that then falls apart, Liz Truss emerges from 10 Downing Street and is removed by a claw

Lettuce Be Clear

Posted on: 25 Nov, 22

Whilst people need excitement, businesses need stability, consistency and clarity. Sadly, we’ve had precious little of that sort of thing so far this year. Is there now hope of a steadier course? Join us as Oury and Clark try and unpick if we have actually turned a corner or if it is just the first bend on yet another government u-turn.

clark uncertain

Oury, you look dazed. Are you alright?

oury confusion

I’m in a state of high confusion Clark, I don’t know up from down.

clark worried

Have you had a bang on the head, if so we need to take that seriously.

oury normal

What? No! At least i don’t think so I’m just feeling disorientated

clark positive

Not to worry, I used to volunteer for the St. John’s Ambulance you know. Simple test to check. First a couple of questions. So, can you tell me who the prime minister is?

oury rolls_eyes

Aaaaaargh

clark normal

Oh, yes, of course trickier than it used to be that one. Though your reaction tells me that you are most likely perfectly sane and compos mentis. Though in case you aren’t the prime minister is currently…

oury wink

Sh, no point in trying to be topical, everything will have changed by the time we have finished speaking.

clark normal

Quite, been a bit of a run on the politician market the mini financial thingummy hasn’t there?

oury normal

Well, yes, but it’s not the ever changing politicians that are the problem, it’s the ever changing policy that is the problem.

clark uncertain

I don’t follow?

oury normal

Exactly, no one can, that’s precisely the point. Cheap Money, Free Spending, Magic Money trees, No Magic Money trees, Tax and Spend, Spend with no Tax, Taxes going down, going up frankly everything is going sideways. I’m having a tax breakdown.

clark normal

I would have thought complicating tax would be a boon for you accountants Oury?

oury normal

Well, yes and no, mainly no. Short term yes, but long term, when the dust has settled much less so.

clark doubt

Because of higher taxes?

oury normal

Not really Clark. It’s bigger than that.

clark worried

Super high taxes?

oury sad

No, the lack of a long term plan, the lack of an, at least, relatively consistent ideology. Businesses will put up with most things if they know what the rules are and that they can plan ahead with confidence that they won’t change for a reasonable amount of time.

clark confusion

So they don’t care about the level of tax?

oury positive

Well of course they do, but whichever way you cut it, despite everything, the UK is still an attractive place to do business, even if we don’t know whether we are trying to be Singapore or Germany.

clark normal

Sounds like the start of a joke. And this is no place for jokes.

oury normal

Indeed and we don’t end up being the punchline. What I was trying to say was that whether corporation tax is 19% or 25%, or if social security is 13.8% or 15.05% doesn’t matter. They compare favorably with other countries, and operating in the UK has a lot of benefits. But businesses just want to be able to plan.

clark positive

I guess people just want a plan they can invest in.

oury positive

Quite, they want something for the long term and for long term business investment at least we do have some certainty.

clark angry

You have a plan, do you have a decent cabinet? If so, I could have a job for you

oury excitement

I have a very robust chest of drawers, but frankly that’s none of your business. The good news is that of all the ideas they threw out – they are keeping the £1M annual investment allowance, and increasing SEIS to £250k from April

clark confusion

Oh good – er- but what does that mean.

oury excitement

That’s the fact you can spend up to £1m in plant and machinery you will be able to get 100% deduction up front until April next year. And it means that very small early stage companies (less than 2 years of trade, less than £200k in assets) can now attract £250k of investment rather than £150k under the incredible generous SEIS where investors are getting 50% of their money back through their tax returns.

clark normal

That is super, do you have any more information? Any other cunning plans?

oury normal

Well i’m pretty certain that the super deduction part of this quick guide is still relevant, in terms of plans I was thinking maybe pub?

clark normal

Now that is an ideology I can invest in.

Disclaimer

We are but two fictitious characters throwing out ideas and comment to stimulate debate and collect information. As professional service firms, we are open-minded people and think independent thought and debate are essential to help us understand as well as navigate complex problems. By joves – doing business across Europe (and the world) is set to become a whole lot more complex in light of recent seismic political events. As businesses – we provide information and hopefully some wisdom – and we see this blog and its caricatures merely as a much more fun, perhaps slightly controversial, way of stimulating debate and collecting ideas. We’re searching for some true pearls of wisdom, and as we find them, we’ll share them with you.

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