HMRC gets tougher
Paul Goodman, director, Goodman Corporate Finance and former chair of the NACFB said of yesterday’s Budget:
“The number that matters for working capital isn’t the £20.4bn for the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank. It’s the £1.8bn a year the Treasury expects by 2031-32 from making Self-Assessment taxpayers pay in-year from 2029, alongside mandatory direct debit for VAT and PAYE and a new power to collect persistent lower-value tax debts directly from bank accounts. HMRC has been the informal lender of last resort for small firms for years. From 2029 that gets much harder. Every business that has been running the Revenue as a creditor will need a real facility instead.”