The World In A Week – VAT’s The Way Forward

Last week, the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak unveiled his latest plan to support the economic recovery. As the job-retention scheme begins to unwind, Sunak has pledged to protect the jobs of furloughed workers by offering a £1,000 bonus to companies who retain these workers on their books. He has also promised to fund the wages of new younger employees for the next six months. The combination of these measures taken will hopefully support the estimated 700,000 graduates and school leavers that are entering the uncertain job market this summer.

Aside from the job protection measures, Sunak has introduced methods of stimulating spending in the economy by proposing an “Eat out to help out” scheme which rewards people with a 50% discount for dining in restaurants and cafes. Furthermore, the cut to VAT in the hospitality and tourism sector is a measure aimed to boost the short-term consumption in the economy by taking advantage of the lower prices on offer. The stamp duty measures raise the threshold to £500,000 which will hopefully stimulate a resurgence in the housing market.

On the outset, the package of up to £30 billion appears significant in nature with policies clearly designed to reduce the rapid rise in unemployment. The deployment of this package remains devoted towards seeing out the interim and subsequently dealing with the financing of this additional expenditure at a later stage.

Meanwhile, cases of the coronavirus continue to increase with the World Health Organisation reporting a daily increase of 230,370 cases on Saturday and with the US reporting their highest daily increase to date. However, the recent spike in the number of US coronavirus cases seems detached from market sentiment as the S&P 500 continues to climb, returning +3.91% year to date in GBP terms.

Any opinions stated are honestly held but are not guaranteed and should not be relied upon.
The information contained in this document is not to be regarded as an offer to buy or sell, or the solicitation of any offer to buy or sell, any investments or products.
The content of this document is for information only. It is advisable that you discuss your personal financial circumstances with a financial adviser before undertaking any investments.
All the data contained in the communication is believed to be reliable but may be inaccurate or incomplete.  Unless otherwise specified all information is produced as of 13th July 2020.