72: Finance Bills, they’re like London buses…

Finance Bills at the moment are like London buses; you wait ages for one and then two come along at once.

Last Friday (8 September 2017) saw the publication of the second Finance Bill of the year, labelled the Finance Bill 2017-19, otherwise known as ‘the one which (finally) contains the non dom provisions’. Publication of this Finance Bill follows the government’s announcement back in July that the non dom provisions would be enacted in a further Finance Bill to take effect retroactively from 6 April 2017 as we reported at the time. When enacted (which we anticipate to be by the end of next month at the earliest) this bill is likely to become known as Finance (No 2) Act 2017.

This Wednesday (13 September 2017) sees the publication of another Finance Bill as a precursor to the 2017 Autumn Budget which is due to take place later this year. This will eventually be enacted next year and become the Finance Act 2018. We do not (at this stage at least) expect this Finance Bill to include any further measures relevant to the non dom changes.

Comment

The withdrawal of the non dom provisions from the original Finance Bill before the General Election in June only served to fan the flames of uncertainty around the non dom reforms. This uncertainty led many clients who are set to become deemed domiciled with effect from 6 April 2017, and who were taking steps to plan in light of their status, to put their plans on ice until the situation become more certain.

Although the government’s announcement in July was helpful to restore a sense of certainty, the continued political instability in the UK has meant that we, like many advisors, have taken a cautious approach to their enactment over the summer. The fact the provisions are to finally find their way on to the statute books is a step in the right direction and means clients can now resume their planning.