Talking Corporation Tax on BBC Newsnight
01-03-2021
On 25th February 2021 BBC Newsnight reported from Fashion-Enter’s London Factory to discuss pre-budget strategies including a possible increase in corporation tax. Production Director Caroline Ash openly discussed that furlough had been a godsend for the business during the pandemic she said: “It has meant that we have not had to let anyone go at all. It’s going to be a while before we can return to normal business.”
With The Budget just days away (3rd March) the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak certainly has his work cut out as he essentially needs to tighten the purse strings without strangling a very fragile economy, which shrank by 9.9% last year. His long term plan will need to incorporate actions that will bring down the deficit, tax rises could be on the way with corporation tax at the top of the list.
As a company Fashion-Enter Ltd has been fortunate enough to survive the past pandemic year, others have not been so lucky. However, Caroline explained to Newsnight’s Political Editor, Nicholas Watt, the company’s concerns for the months ahead: “We don’t feel certain, we don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. We don’t know in six-weeks time how much work we’ve got. If he increased corporation tax, if we were so lucky as to make a profit, we couldn’t then improve the business and help the business grow. So it would be a disaster for us. We need to reinvest in the business and we need the government to help us.”
State support implemented over the past year has been at extraordinarily high levels, racking up wartime levels of debt. Now the question remains as to how the government plan to recoup these funds from a post-Brexit and hopefully post-pandemic Britain. Should they hold off until the economy can, once again, fully thrive?
To view the BBC Newsnight interview with Caroline Ash tap here – available until 25th March 2021.
