Budget submission

October saw ICAEW submit a representation to inform the Chancellor’s upcoming Autumn Budget.

The submission highlighted that the UK is at an economic inflection point, with fragile business confidence, stalled investment, and everyday decisions being slowed by complexity, cost and uncertainty.

It is essential that this year’s Autumn Budget unlocks economic growth by tackling the barriers that obstruct UK businesses. Therefore, ICAEW is urging the Government to:

• reduce uncertainty by committing to not raise business taxes to the end of the Parliament, delivering the business tax roadmap, and providing a clear path for sustainability;
• make doing business easier by simplifying VAT, fixing HMRC service standards, and streamlining employment status; and
• make doing business less costly by properly reforming business rates, cutting energy costs and reducing red tape.

Finance Bill engagement

This month, ICAEW submitted a representation to the Lords Finance Bill Sub-Committee’s call for evidence on draft Finance Bill clauses for reforming inheritance tax and on tax agents.

ICAEW highlighted concerns with the proposed reforms, especially regarding the liability of personal representatives for pension funds and the impact of capping agricultural and business property reliefs, warning these changes could create liquidity problems, increase administrative burdens, and unfairly affect both lay and professional executors as well as business and farm owners. The submission urged the Government to reconsider implementation timelines, provide transitional relief for vulnerable groups, and engage more meaningfully with stakeholders to ensure the reforms are workable and do not lead to unintended negative consequences.

ICAEW also participated in two oral evidence sessions of the Sub-Committee. Senior Technical Manager, Tax, Lindsey Wicks served as a witness in a session focusing on measures to crack down on promoters of marketed tax avoidance schemes, and Technical Manager, Tax, Katherine Ford gave evidence in a session focused on changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.

Party conferences

ICAEW delivered a comprehensive programme of engagement during party conference season this year, reflecting our commitment to fostering constructive dialogue across the political spectrum. Following engagement at the Reform UK and Liberal Democrat conferences last month, ICAEW attended the Labour and Conservative Party conferences this month.

Chief Policy and Communications Officer Iain Wright and ICAEW President Derek Blair travelled to Liverpool to attend the Labour Party Annual Conference, supported by Public Affairs. The pair met with Exchequer Secretary Dan Tomlinson MP to discuss, among other things, ICAEW’s concerns about draft legislation affecting the tax profession.

Other activities at Labour Conference included attendance at Business Day, a reception hosted by eight Labour Mayors, and a breakfast roundtable with Financial Secretary to the Treasury Lord Livermore.

Iain Wright and Public Affairs then attended the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, where Iain met with Shadow Chancellor Rt Hon Sir Mel Stride MP at an Enterprise Forum event sponsored by ICAEW, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Richard Fuller MP, and special advisers from the Leader of the Opposition’s Office.

At both conferences, ICAEW convened member roundtables – with members’ insights forming the foundations of the Institute’s status as a key voice of business. In Liverpool, ICAEW hosted an event at the offices of RSM, where Iain and Derek discussed the political context and heard from members local to Liverpool about the uncertainty that is testing business resilience and their perspectives on the skills environment. In Manchester, Iain asked the roundtable of members working in businesses across the North West about the challenges and opportunities they face. Members reported that policy certainty, especially on tax, is crucial for growth and investment.

Global Ethics Day

UK Anti-Corruption Champion Rt Hon Baroness Hodge of Barking DBE delivered the keynote address at ICAEW’s Global Ethics Day event at Chartered Accountants’ Hall. Baroness Hodge’s speech emphasised the vital role of chartered accountants in the battle against illicit finance.

With a theme of “Ethics Re-envisioned,” this year’s event challenged participants to think boldly about how to embed ethical principles into the heart of organisations. The event brought together thought leaders, policy influencers and chartered accountants to examine the profession’s role in shaping an ethics-first culture, both within teams and across the wider business ecosystem.