Spring Statement 2019 due on March 13th

Philip Hammond has said his second Spring Statement will be delivered on March 13th 2019.

The chancellor’s announcement late last week indicates that his statement -- a response to the OBR’s forecasts -- will be unveiled about two weeks before Britain is due to leave the EU.

For the contractor sector, the statement represents the first time that Mr Hammond will have addressed the UK on his tax and spending plans since he vowed to extend IR35 reform.

But his move in 2015 to scrap having a Budget in March (and downgrade it to a Spring Statement) was so that tax and spending changes only had to be made once, in the autumn.

Potentially due to Brexit, that intention was made condition-based in October, when Mr Hammond said he ‘reserved the right to upgrade the Spring Statement to a full fiscal event.’

Last March, alongside Spring Statement 2018, the Treasury said a consultation on extending  IR35 reform to the private sector would be published “in the coming months.”

It was finally unveiled in May, but the finer details of what the extension will look like is due to be consulted on this month -- February, suggesting the March Spring Statement is likely to do little more than nod to the consultation as being underway.

Editor's Note: Read more about Spring Statement 2019:

Quiet Spring Statement incoming, contractors' advisers say

Why the Apprenticeship Levy needs reform at Spring Statement 2019

Spring Statement 2019 webinar: contractors, get your lowdown

Spring Statement 2019: what contractors can expect

Use Spring Statement 2019 to act on late payment, chancellor told

HMRC 'engaged disguised remuneration contractors'