From 2018, there will be a single annual Budget, which is welcome relief for business and tax advisers. Although 2017, will be a transition year, the expectation is that the new Chancellor Philip Hammond is keen to reduce the endless tinkering with tax policy as seen over the last few years since George Osborne ramped up the importance of the Autumn Statement.

The government has stressed that it will retain and strengthen the current consultation process on tax measures, tax policy and draft legislation,  as set out in ‘The new approach to tax policy making’ in 2010.

Most measures proposed at a Budget will be subject to policy consultation in the spring and publication of draft legislation in the summer, before being legislated in the Finance Bill after the following Budget.

To build on this and allow for an earlier stage of involvement on key strategic challenges, the Chancellor has said that he may launch consultations on how to address these longer-term issues at the Spring Statement.

In this week’s Autumn Statement there were a number of references to upcoming topics which will be reviewed and put out to consultation in the next few months, presumably before the next Budget announcement in March.

These include:

• R&D tax reliefs – a review of their appropriateness as a mechanism to drive inward investment and innovation;
• valuation of benefits in kind – the government will consider how benefits in kind are valued for tax purposes, publishing a consultation on employer-provided living accommodation;
• money purchase annual allowance (MPAA) for pensions will be reduced to £4,000 from April 2017; and
• employee business expenses – the government will publish a call for evidence at Budget 2017 on the use of the income tax relief for employees’ business expenses, including those that are not reimbursed by their employer.

The Treasury has also confirmed that the government response to the six Making Tax Digital consultations issued in August 2016, and closed for comment on 7 November, will be published in January 2017.

This is a departure from normal practice, where neither the government nor HMRC will give any detail on when they plan to publish consultation response.