Commentary from Laurence Field, Head of Tax at leading national accountancy Crowe Clark Whitehill, comments.

In an optimistically delivered Budget focused the next generation and living within our means, the Chancellor managed to confound some of the expectations he, himself, had managed to create. This was not a Budget that will do anything to simplify the already complex tax code.

Multiple levels of capital gains tax, restrictions on the use of losses, the introduction of a sugar tax that seems quite complex in concept – we can be sure it will be even more complex when written down. Keen to be seen to be a good internationalist the Chancellor appears to be embracing the BEPs principles as rapidly as possible and has even taken some initial steps to modernise the tax code to reflect the digital age.

While the reduction of corporation tax to 17 percent in 2020 will be welcomed by business, in practice it reflects the fact that corporation tax is becoming a lot less important. Tightening up on ‘loopholes’ around pay is much more cost effective. The take is bigger and it costs a lot less to collect.

Larger businesses will need to understand the impact of the changes to interest deductibility and the use of losses – which in combination will undoubtedly increase the tax yield, albeit at a lower rate. The art delivering a Budget is similar to that of a magician. Spend a couple of weeks spinning hard about the economic headwinds and how tough times are to generate some misdirection and then deliver a Budget that contradicts the mood that has been created.