High on Mr Osborne's priority list will be near revenue-neutral measures aimed at attracting investment in the hi-tech and biotechnology sectors. These measures will be contained in the growth review, the release of which will be timed to coincide with the Budget.  One Treasury source suggested there will be "chunky packages on planning and regulation" giving a boost to the property sector, including a shift to planning laws allowing disused office space to be turned into low-cost flats.  Reducing the amount of tax collected under the controlled foreign companies (CFC) regime is an obvious attempt to ease relations with big business and stop more wealthy taxpayers moving overseas.  Examples of companies that have left the UK over the amount of taxation they have to pay include WPP, now domiciled in Ireland, and Wolseley, which is moving its headquarters to Switzerland.  Last November, the Treasury issued a strategy document entitled Corporate Tax Reform which set out a five-year plan for reform of the corporate tax environment, including a consultation document on CFCs. Earlier this month, John Lapthorne, tax specialist at UK Trade & Investment – the UK's overseas business marketing arm – said: "The reform of CFC legislation will make the UK a more competitive location for multi-national holding companies" and reduce uncertainty and inconsistency on how these will be taxed.  The Budget is expected to set out initial changes to the CFC regime this year, with further changes in 2012.  The Chancellor is also expected to announce a new crackdown on non-doms who live in the UK but use overseas territories to legally avoid paying taxes.  Mr Obsorne is known to have read a study which suggested imposing a flat-rate tax on approximately 120,000 Britons who fall into this category. The present rules, put in place by Gordon Brown when he was at No 11, require non-doms to pay £30,000 a year in tax, but this applies only to those who have lived in the UK for seven years or more.  Other measures likely to be announced include the cutting of red tape and legislation to allow the establishment of the much-anticipated 'green' investment bank.
The Chancellor's Budget speech will be double-edged for many in the Square    Mile as he reduces the amount of tax paid by British companies on foreign    profits but tightens up regulations and taxes on non-domiciles.