The Budget will be held on 6 March, potentially directly after Prime Minister’s Questions and ahead of a widely-expected election in May this year.
It will be the final Budget before the general election, so the final opportunity for the government to introduce fiscal changes which will boost their popularity with the electorate.
In a short statement on the government’s website, the Treasury said that Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, had “commissioned the Office for Budget Responsibility to prepare an economic and fiscal forecast to be presented to Parliament alongside his Spring Budget on 6 March 2024”.
The announcement has once again prompted speculation around potential changes to inheritance tax, just as there was in the build up to the Autumn Statement in November. However this has been downplayed by Downing Street, which pointed out that the levy is paid by only a small number of estates.
