"As we heard this week, now is not the right time to outline long-term plans - people want to see us focused on the here and now."
This afternoon, Rishi Sunak will speak in the House of Commons on the government's plans to protect jobs after the furlough scheme ends in October.
In a statement the Treasury said: "As we heard this week, now is not the right time to outline long-term plans - people want to see us focused on the here and now.
"So we are confirming today that there will be no Budget this autumn."
Speaking to MPs yesterday, Boris Johnson said: “Of course the government is going to come forward with further measures. I don’t think it would be sensible to just extend the furlough scheme in its existing form beyond the end of October, but we will do everything we can to support business, to support those in jobs and indeed the self employed. We will go forward with further creative and imaginative schemes to keep our economy moving.”
Genevieve Morris, head of corporate tax at Blick Rothenberg, commented: "The Announcement that there will be no Budget this year comes as no surprise.
“It would have been difficult for the Chancellor to announce tax changes in the Autumn which are aimed at recouping the costs of the pandemic, whilst the country is still in the grip of a second wave and many businesses and individuals will be looking at having to pay deferred income tax, corporation tax and VAT liabilities and start repayments on the CBILs in the first quarter of 2021.
"What we need from the Chancellor now is a promise that there will not be overnight tax changes announced in the Autumn, or reforms which put additional burden on individuals and businesses. A promise from the Chancellor now will remove the ambiguity which is worrying people at the moment and at least provide some certainty over the next six months."
Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning expert at Quilter, added: “The time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining, so It makes sense for the Chancellor to delay the tough decisions until at least next Spring. By then government will hope to have a much better idea of whether an effective vaccine is viable for next year, and the UK’s longer-term relationship with the EU ought to be clearer. At the moment it would be extremely challenging to make long-term policy decisions with so much up in the air. As we learn more over the coming months it may become a little easier to build an informed projection about the trajectory of the economic rebound. In turn, that makes it easier to build an evidenced based case for what may be some difficult policy decisions.
“The Conservatives will likely wish to maintain their reputation for prudence by reducing debt over the course of the Parliament, as they promised in their Manifesto. Although the goalposts have changed somewhat, it is difficult to see the Chancellor throwing caution to the wind and abandoning that pledge altogether. That means he faces the deeply unenviable task of repairing public finances without implementing tax policies that adversely impact recovery.
“Rishi Sunak’s stock is currently pretty high. Polling shows he has come through a rollercoaster six months in good shape, with the public clearly approving of measures like Furlough. If he can avert a major jobs crisis over the winter – a difficult challenge - and maintain some of that good feeling with the public then perhaps he may yet be tempted to use it as a platform to implement some difficult revenue raising measures in March, ahead of the new tax year.”
