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Tax 'too complicated' says Cameron

Oct 18 2006

Speaking at the Forum for Private Business Small Firms’ Summit, Tory leader David Cameron highlighted the need for a simpler tax system and a ‘rebalance’ in tax distribution.

While he praised the spirit of enterprise, which is ‘very much alive’ in the ‘active and growing SME sector’, Cameron lamented the ‘lack of support’ currently offered to small firms, as well as the increasing regulatory burden faced by business owners.

With more than half of all employment and turnover in the UK stemming from small enterprises and over two-thirds of commercial innovations, simplification in areas such as legislation and taxation was paramount, he claimed. ‘Stability needs to come first, then we can share the proceeds of growth over time.’

The Leader of the Opposition commented on the possibility of moving away from business taxation and shifting towards tax on ‘the bad things’, such as ‘pollution and emissions’.

He also spoke of increased support for small business under a Conservative Government, highlighting the importance of the supply2.gov.uk website, a Government-backed service designed to give companies access to contracts, typically worth less than £100,000, offered by the public sector. The possibility of doing away with the requirement to provide three years of financial figures, which clearly excludes start-up companies, was something that needed to be looked into, claimed Cameron.

The speech comes days after a survey by telecoms provider Unicom, revealed that 42 per cent of small business owners wanted Tony Blair to step down as Prime Minister and Labour leader sooner rather than later.

Chris Earle, operations director at Unicom, commented that ‘the small business community is a massively accurate barometer of the overall opinion of the business community’, calling small firms ‘the front line when it comes to the effects of Government economic and business policy’.

Click here to learn more about taxation for start-ups and small businesses, as well as help with your tax return.

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