New Finance Bill to be published
The government has confirmed that a new Finance Bill will be introduced as soon as possible after the summer recess. The House of Commons returns to Westminster on 5 September 2017.In a joint press release from HMRC and HM Treasury we are told that the new Finance Bill will legislate for all policies that were included in the pre-election Finance Bill but not included in the Act that was rushed through Parliament before the snap election.It has also been confirmed that all policies originally announced to start from April 2017 will be effective from that date. This includes the corporate interest restriction, changes to the treatment of carried-forward losses, the money purchase annual allowance, changes to the deemed domicile rules and penalties for enablers of defeated tax avoidance schemes.The introduction of Making Tax Digital (MTD) will also be legislated for albeit with significant changes to the implementation schedule.A Written Ministerial Statement on the Finance Bill by Mel Stride, Financial Secretary to the Treasury states:’Where policies have been announced as applying from the start of the 2017-18 tax year or other point before the introduction of the forthcoming Finance Bill, there is no change of policy and these dates of application will be retained. Those affected by the provisions should continue to assume that they will apply as originally announced.The Finance Bill to be introduced will legislate for policies that have already been announced. In the case of some provisions that will apply from a time before the Bill is introduced, technical adjustments and additions to the versions contained in the March Bill will be made on introduction to ensure that they function as intended.’Planning noteThere is still a measure of uncertainty regarding the ability of the government to present this second Finance Bill for 2017, and see it through the various committee stages without amendment. It will be September 2017 at the earliest before the Bill reaches the statute books. We will have to wait and see what proceeds to legislation.