Responding to the International Monetary Fund cutting its forecasts for the UK economy and suggesting it will grow by 0.8% in 2026, Muniya Barua, Deputy Chief Executive at BusinessLDN, said:
“The Government’s ambitions to get the economy growing quickly have stalled as the war in Iran undermines business confidence, pushes up inflation and damages global supply chains.
“This makes it even more important that the Government acts pull levers to boost growth that are within its gift. Reports that the Chancellor will encourage expats to come to the UK and revisit rules that lead to double taxation of American citizens are positive. This should be a stepping stone towards a wider review of the decision to abolish the‘non-dom’ tax regime to attract more high-net worth individuals back to London.
“More broadly, a new Office for Tax Competitiveness should be established to identify where the UK’s appeal is being undermined by being out of kilter with other jurisdictions. As part of this, the Government should look again at changes to the business rates system that risk deterring investment.”