Small Cap Value Report (Weds 30 Oct 2024) - BUDGET. NXT, TMO Briefs: AML, CABP, EQLS, HSP, ECK, SALT

Good morning, and happy budget day from Paul amp; Graham!
As usual I'll be posting my immediate notes on the Budget speech in this article shortly after the Chancellor sits down - as I type it up in real time anyway, so might as well share my notes with you here. EDIT: Done - published at 14:08. Then at 5pm, Megan and Mark will be doing a webinar - details here - with more in depth analysis, so I'm looking forward to tuning in to that.

Budget speech -
Summary
Not as bad as the worst fears - has already triggered a big rally in some AIM shares.
Taxes will be raised by £40bn, the bulk coming from Employers NICs at £25bn.
I think this is a fairly balanced set of measures, but it’s going to hurt business profits due to higher labour costs amp; taxes.
AIM loses half its IHT relief, from 40% to 20%, so still worth holding good AIM shares. Pity she didn’t commit to no further changes in future.
So uncertainty will continue, but AIM lives to fight another day!
Increases to CGT, but not particularly big.
Pensions will become subject to IHT - a big change (not immediate though...