Tax and regulation policy briefing

March Budget, the count-down is on

With only days to go before the new Chancellor stands up to deliver this government’s first Budget (not to mention the first Budget in almost 18 months), the media rumours are in overdrive about what we may see.

But, so far, there is still a significant amount of uncertainty, in particular around the fiscal rules and whether the government sticks to the new framework set out by Sajid Javid only a few months ago. A simple guide to the fiscal rules can be found here.

It’s now almost certain that this Budget will have a significant element of the government’s response to the continuing COVID-19 outbreak, including any potential economic policy measures to mitigate the impact of the virus so far. However, with little data currently available on the economic impact of the outbreak available, the government may wish to limit its actions right now and act to reassure markets through