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Article: Will the Chancellor put our houses in order? Sam Dunn looks ahead to this week's Budget, asking if Gordon Brown will ease the load for homeowners and first-time buyers by raising the thresholds on stamp duty and inheritance tax
- Article from:
- The Independent on Sunday (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 13, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2005 The Independent on Sunday. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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he shadow of a general election expec-ted within a matter of weeks
will loom large over Gordon Brown's 2005 Budget this Wednesday.
As a result, says Victor Dauppe, a partner at accountants
MacIntyre Hudson, it is "unthinkable" that voters will be left with
less money in their pockets because of hikes in income tax, VAT or
national insurance contributions.
But with a growing budget deficit, neither does the Chancellor
have any scope for the usual pre-election handouts, adds Mr Dauppe.
"It's likely that this Budget will be heavy on forthcoming
consultations and light on meaningful measures."
Such a view suggests that two much-mooted changes - to stamp duty
and inheritance tax (IHT) - will ...