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The Confederation of British Industry has called for an overhaul of the business rates system, including annual revaluations and a banded set of multipliers, which it says will provide stability and fairness for businesses.

Our autumn 2024 scene-setter considers how the party conference season will pan out and what we can expect to see in next month’s Budget.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) conference has approved a motion backing tax increases on the wealthiest in Scotland as a senior government minister warned that further tax divergence could lead to people moving out of the country.

A new business tax “roadmap” should provide “predictability” and a “clear direction of travel” to promote investment in the UK, said speakers at a joint Chartered Institute of Taxation and Institute for Fiscal Studies debate.

There was broad support across Parliament for the Budget Responsibility Bill, which gives new powers to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to make judgements on any major taxation or spending announcements, as the Bill passed through the House of Commons on 4 September 2024. But MPs from four different parties suggested ways the Bill could be improved.

Endless phoneline waits, unfair clawbacks and misdirected tax-avoidance clampdowns waste business time and energy

On 30 July, the House of Commons debated the Budget Responsibility Bill, granting the bill a second reading without a vote. The government argued that the Bill would prevent any future government from bypassing the fiscal lock by updating the charter for budget responsibility without Parliament's consent.

Peers spent five days debating the government’s programme for this session of Parliament, as set out in the King's Speech. Some peers welcomed the plan to reform the apprenticeship levy and there was some support for increases to capital gains and inheritance taxes, but Conservatives questioned how the government plans to increase growth.

The government has published information on a number of proposed tax reforms, including changes affecting non-doms, independent school fees and extension of the Energy Profits Levy, and announced the date of the Budget.

Following the King’s Speech, MPs debated the government’s programme for five days in the House of Commons. Some of the key issues discussed included economic growth, the Budget Responsibility Bill, VAT on private schools and devolution. The topic of scrapping the two-child limit was also frequently raised. Conservatives accused the government of ‘downplaying’ the inherited economy to justify raising taxes, while the government argued that they would keep taxes ‘low’.