Britain Posts Unexpected Budget Deficit as Corporation Taxes Fall

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-21/u-k-unexpectedly-posts-budget-deficit-as-corporation-taxes-drop.html

Britain unexpectedly posted a budget deficit in July as corporation-tax receipts plunged, partly due to the closure of the Elgin gas field in the North Sea.

The shortfall, which excludes government support for banks, was 557 million pounds ($878 million) compared with a surplus of 2.84 billion pounds a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London today. The median of 17 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey was for a surplus of 2.2 billion pounds. Tax revenue fell 0.8 percent and corporation tax plunged 19.3 percent. Government spending rose 5.1 percent.