Among the measures are the scrapping of SDLT for first-time buyers purchasing properties worth up to £300,000, and reducing stamp duty for those buying properties worth up to £500,000, although this is likely to increase house prices.

In a bid to encourage manufacturers to produce cleaner cars, there is legislation for a one band increase in the amount of vehicle excise duty new diesel cars pay in their first year, while the existing compare car tax diesel supplement is increased by 1%.

Legislation in the Bill freezes the capital gains indexation allowance and sets it in line with retail priceiIndex (RPI) fixed as of December 2017, so that it will not be reviewed monthly as is the current practice. This was a surprise move in the Budget, and the Treasury says it is intended to bring the rules for business in line with those applying to individuals. This will be raise costs for disposal of assets in the longer term as the index will not keep pace with inflationary changes.

Corporation tax will remain at 19% with the plan to cut to 17% in 2020 set out in the Budget Red Book.

The Finance Bill has a number of measures aimed at clamping down on tax avoidance, evasion, and non-compliance. They include closing loopholes in the anti-avoidance rules for offshore trusts, so that people cannot avoid paying UK tax on the benefits they withdraw from their offshore trusts.

The legislation also contains new regulations designed to address moves by digital multinationals to post profits overseas, by introducing a tax on royalties relating to UK sales, when those royalties are paid to a low tax jurisdiction. Other measures address online VAT evasion by making online marketplaces take more responsibility for the unpaid VAT of their sellers.

Additional anti-avoidance measures include further tightening of the rules around disguised remuneration; ensuring companies are not able to claim relief for losses on the disposal of shares which do not reflect losses incurred by the wider group; and extending landfill tax to illegal waste sites to crack down on rogue landfill site operators.

Among the tax breaks designed to encourage innovation, the finance bill includes legislation doubling the annual amount an enterprise investment scheme (EIS) investor can get tax relief on to £2m, when investing in knowledge-intensive companies, and also doubling the amount of money that knowledge-intensive companies can receive annually through EISs and venture capital trusts (VCTs) to £10m.

The legislation also increases the rate of R&D expenditure credit (RDEC) from 11% to 12%.

Finance Bill 2017-18 is here - draft legislation

The 143pp Treasury Finance Bill 2017-18 explanatory notes are available here 

Report by Pat Sweet