Full impact of Osborne Budget might not be known for weeks

FINANCIAL services in Guernsey will be hit by the impact of George Osborne's UK Budget yesterday – but last night it was difficult to quantify how hard.

The removal of the stamp duty 'loophole' on buying properties through an offshore company was trailed, but there was surprise at the 15% charge on 'enveloping' for UK properties worth more than £2m. and the idea for an annual charge on properties owned by companies offshore.

'Our best hope was that there would be no surprises,' said Graham Parrott, from Ernst & Young. 'This has not quite been the case, but it could have been worse.'

Lawyers and accountants said that there would be some impact in the island across sectors including law, trust, funds and private client wealth management.

But many said that more detail was required – either in next week's Finance Bill or over the next few weeks and months.