PHILIP Hammond delivered his first Autumn Statement as Chancellor last week.

And Paula Joyce, tax manager at Alton-based Sheen Stickland Chartered Accountants, has shared her view on the Statement.

“The Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts reflect a new set of circumstances for the UK economy, resulting from the decision to leave the EU,” she said.

“In the short term, there remains economic uncertainty for the upcoming periods of negotiation and longer term the economy will need to adjust to new relationships with the EU and the rest of the world.

“As a result, the government has back-peddled on seeking a budget surplus in 2019-20 and are instead committed to returning public finances to balance ‘as soon as practicable’.

In order to provide more certainty and stability to businesses and individuals it was announced that the government intends to issue the annual budget as a single annual statement in the autumn of each year.

There was an emphasis in the statement on achieving a fair and sustainable tax system through a number of initiatives in which employee remuneration schemes, benefits and tax reliefs seem to be at the top of the agenda.

Further sanctions on disguised remuneration tax avoidance schemes were announced for both the tax avoider and more notably those facilitating the schemes.

In addition, from April 2017, most salary sacrifice schemes will lose their tax benefit. Pensions, childcare and low-emission cars will continue to be exempt from these provisions and many employers will need to take advantage of the one-year’s grace provided for existing schemes to review their remuneration packages.

A policy paper was also issued relating to the status of employee shareholders. This has been based on evidence suggesting that employee shareholder status is not being used as intended and therefore withdrawal of income tax and capital gains tax reliefs will take effect from this week.

Only individuals who become employee shareholders on or after this date will be affected by this new measure.

It was also suggested that there will be further reviews on the valuations of benefits in kind ahead of the budget in 2017.

On a more positive note, it was confirmed that the main rate of corporation tax will be cut to 17 per cent by 2020 which, Mr Hammond said, is “by far the lowest” of G20 nations and will benefit more than one million businesses.

The Government also want to ensure that the UK tax system is strongly pro-innovation, and a review into the tax environment for research and development will consider ways in which it can make the UK a more competitive place to carry out research and development.

Finally, the “making tax digital” initiative remains on the table with an announcement expected in January 2017 detailing its response to the consultations and its provisions to implement the previously announced changes.