Budget Oct 24 Thread

Have cogertated over the budget and as a left leaning human I am struggling to see this even remotely as a Labour budget. Employers NI will be an expensive hit on our small business team of 13 (all on significant salaries) we run some Double Cab pickups so no more new ones which will mean we pay money to he government in tax rather hand to a manufacturer/dealer. As a rough estimate of a million pounds turnover including VAT  paye, NI both employees and business, corporation tax, tax on dividends, BIK, student loans etc we are close to £400k going to the government. I don’t mind the contribution but it all feels a bit miserable. We won’t be taking on a new consultant next year as if we did no one in the business would be getting a bonus. I need to keep the team happy they work hard.

Just do a head count in almost any pub. It’s mostly grey/white hair and bald heads

Not round here.  In the drinking only pubs its mainly folk in the 20 – 40 age range

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp816jrnynyo

Big retailers threatening job losses as a result of the NI changes

Tesco, Amazon, Greggs, Next, and dozens of other chains are urging the Treasury to reconsider some of the measures

Cry me a river

Tesco: Sales up 4.4% but somehow profit increased by 161% to £2.3 billion

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68776913

Amazon: £27bn in UK sales but uses every route possible to avoid tax https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/sep/26/amazon-uk-pays-corporation-tax-for-first-time-since-2020

Greggs: Record growth, turnover over £2 billion, expected to double that by 2026, profits up 16% https://corporate.greggs.co.uk/news/a-message-from-our-chief-executive-interim-results-2024

Next: £5 billion turnover, profits over £1 billion. 20% profit margin https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24688195.annual-profits-next-top-1bn-first-time/

I get that small retailers will take a hit and should have been protected, and don’t have much media clout like the “big boys” above, but if the message is “our shareholders are more important than customers, staff, or supporting the public services which support our workforce” then it’s not a good look.

we run some Double Cab pickups so no more new ones 

Is that because they’re run for tax reasons rather than business need reasons?