By Lee Perry

Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond has given his final Budget before the UK is set to leave the EU. Here, IP and creative partner Laura Harper and employment partner Paula Rome discuss some of the key announcements in their respective sectors.

Laura Harper:

The chancellor announced that the UK would introduce a “narrowly targeted” digital services tax on large technology companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. The chancellor said “it is only right that these global giants, with profitable businesses in the UK, pay their fair share towards supporting our public services.” However he wanted to reassure the digital community that the tax was only aimed at the tech giants; the new tax will only apply to companies that are profitable and have a global revenue of £500 million per year. The 2% tax is focused on advertising revenue from search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces and will come into effect in 2020.