Budget date is in time for U-turn on stamp duty holid...

The next Budget will be held on March 3 next year - in time for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to change his mind over extending the stamp duty deadline.

Sunak says the statement would "set out the next phase of the plan to tackle the virus and protect jobs”.

Yesterday the government apparently ruled out an extension to the SDLT holiday deadline of March 31, although the government has made a series of high profile U-turns in recent months and some agents have said this could happen again. An online petition caling for such an extension now has around 25,000 signatures.

There has been speculation that the next Budget could also look at other property taxes - specifically Capital Gains Tax - which could rise in a bid to contribute to filling the so-called ‘black hole’ caused by Coronavirus-related expenditure.

Official forecasts have predicted the biggest economic decline in 300 years with the UK's national income expected to shrink by 11.3 per cent this year. Government borrowing will also rise to its highest level outside of wartime and unemployment is predicted to increase to 2.6m according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.

Meanwhile the Chancellor has also extended the furlough scheme for one month until the end of April in order to, in his words, “create certainty for millions of jobs and businesses”.

The government will continue to pay 80 per cent of the salary of employees for hours not worked until the end of April. Employers will only be required to pay the wages, National Insurance contributions and pensions for hours worked, as well as NI contributions and pensions for hours not worked.

Government-guaranteed Covid-19 business loan schemes, which some agencies are known to have taken, are also extended although only until the end of March.

"Our package of support for businesses and workers continues to be one of the most generous and effective in the world - helping our economy to recover and protecting livelihoods across the country" says Sunak.

"We know the premium businesses place on certainty, so it is right that we enable them to plan ahead regardless of the path the virus takes, which is why we're providing certainty and clarity by extending this support.”