Autumn Statement 2014 – An Immediate Reaction

Was that it?

I must have missed something.  Maybe I fell asleep.

I will have to rely on reading up on all the documentary releases by the Treasury which very often contain stuff that failed to make the Chancellor’s speech.

My first reaction is that there is very little there.

George Osborne is a very political chancellor and he is always likely to be up to something.  With a general election just around the corner, the absence of forward guidance to his pre-election budget might just mean that he will make loads of announcements in the budget itself.  We will have to wait till March to find out.

One thing that I was listening out for that received no mention in the speech was the future of the annual investment allowance.  It currently stands at a very healthy £500,000, but that level is set only as far as 31st December 2015.  After that, it is programmed to reduce down to a paltry £25,000.  If the £1/2m allowance is to have a life beyond 2015, it’s extension must be in Budget 2015, which Autumn Statement 2014 is the forward guidance to.  I thought it would be extended, but who knows?

I will look through all the releases and post more in the coming days.