An act in two parts: Finance and Budget

SPEAKERS:

• Rebecca Benneyworth: tax lecturer of the year 2007
• Francesca Lagerberg: partner at Grant Thornton UK LLP and tax lecturer of the year 2008

The conference concentrated on the key 2008 Budget announcements and the subsequent changes introduced in the 2008 Finance Bill (to which statutory references refer unless otherwise specified).

Associated companies

Rebecca Benneyworth confessed to loathing the associated company rules for their complexity. The simplification in clause 32 that excludes companies which are only connected due to the control of persons who are members of a partnership is a small step in the right direction.

This will benefit members of professional and trading partnerships but not partnerships that are set up for tax avoidance purposes.

Research and development tax relief

The additional deduction for relevant expenditure under the research and development tax relief scheme is increased from 150% to 175% for small...