Chancellor George Osborne is mulling plans to cut corporation tax to under 15% in a bid to encourage continued business investment in the UK following the decision to exit the EU
Osborne said reducing corporation tax from its current level of 20% was part of five-point plan to create a ‘super competitive economy’ with low business taxes in an interview with the Financial Times, his first comments since the referendum result a week ago.
The chancellor said the move, which would bring the UK’s rates close to the 12.5% rate now in operation in Ireland, would prove that the country was still ‘open for business.’
The other elements of the plan he outlined included focusing on a new push for investment from China; supporting bank lending; maintaining efforts to invest in the Northern powerhouse; and maintaining the UK’s fiscal credibility.
In the run up to the referendum on EU membership, Osborne said that a vote to leave would mean he would need to have an emergency budget, with predicted income tax rises of 2p and £15bn of cuts to public spending. The chancellor has since indicated that there are unlikely to be any new measures before the next autumn statement.
