The Finance Bill 2017-18 was published on 1 December 2017 and runs to relatively modest 192 pages. The Bill contains the legislation for many of the tax measures that have been announced by the Government at Autumn Budget 2017.
The Finance Bill introduces a number of diverse measures including the introduction of a new permanent stamp duty land tax relief for first-time buyers, the freezing of the capital gains indexation allowance from the end of 2017, increases in vehicle excise duty and company car tax rates for diesel cars, and higher limits for some Enterprise Investment Scheme and Venture Capital Trust investments.
The Finance Bill will also put in place several new measures to tackle tax avoidance, evasion, and non-compliance in areas including offshore trusts, disguised remuneration and VAT evasion by online sellers.
Mel Stride, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:
‘The UK must have an economy that is fit for the future and this Finance Bill takes important steps to deliver just that. We are backing the innovative businesses that power our economy, helping our young people to get on the property ladder and making our tax system fairer so that we can continue to fund our vital public services.’
The Finance Bill, officially known as Finance (No. 2) Bill 2017-19 will go through a number of stages in the House of Commons before proceeding through a further process in the House of Lords prior to becoming an Act of Parliament. The Bill will become known as the Finance Act 2018 when it receives Royal Assent.
