Pre-Budget Report 2009

The Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report today delivered a broadly neutral package of measures intended to maintain economic recovery. Given the proximity of the next General Election, however, many of the taxation measures may never find their way into law, as the Finance Act typically receives Royal Assent in July!

As usual, restricting opportunities for tax avoidance was high on the Chancellor's list of priorities, and the widely-trailed assault on bankers' bonuses for 2009 came to fruition in the form of the one-off bank payroll tax.

Read our comments on all the main tax issues below: