By Mark Braude

The introduction of a new digital services tax had been trailed and came as no surprise. The good news for SMEs was that it will only apply to businesses with global revenues exceeding £500 million and so many will be unaffected.

The Budget brought confirmation that the public sector off-payroll working rules (IR35) will be extended to the private sector. Whilst this will prove burdensome for many businesses, the rules will not come into force until April 2020 and will only apply to large and medium sized businesses.