Budget 2009 summary – What does it mean for small business?

• Loss making businesses will have an extension on reclaiming taxes paid in the last 3 years until November 2010.
• Businesses main capital allowance rate doubled to 40% to encourage companies to invest.
• New business fund worth £750m for strategic investment in emerging technologies and regionally important sectors.

• Alcohol taxes to go up by 2% from the 23^rd April 2009. The average price of a pint will rise by 1p.
• Tobacco tax to rise by 2% from 6pm on the 22^nd of April 2009. The average price of a pack of 20 cigarettes will rise by 7p.
• Fuel duty to rise by 2p per litre from September. A further increase of 1p per litre above inflation will occur every April for the next 4 years.

• Support for the economy to protect £500,000 jobs.
• Statutory redundancy pay up from £350 to £380 a week.
• Flexible new deal providing extra support for people out of work for a 12 month period.
• All under-25s who have been out of work for a year will be offered a job or training place with extra money for those in training.
• £17.7bn extra funding for job centres.
• £250m funding for people seeing work experience in growth industries.
• Funding to create 54,000 new places in sixth form education.

• Income tax to rise to 50% for those earning more than £150,000 from April 2010.
• Tax relief on pensions to be reduced for people earning more than £150,000 a year from April 2011.

• UK economy due to shrink by 3.5% this year.
• Economy will start to grow by the end of 2009.
• £2,000 discount (50% of the discount provided by motor industry) on a new car when a buyer scraps their previous vehicle which is more than 10 years old.
• Inflation target of 2%.
• £500m to restart stalled housing projects.