The Chancellor's quest for a fairer tax system and his challenge of finding more money to address the deficit in the social care budget fell to the nation's innovators and entrepreneurs today.
Commenting on the Budget David Bywater SME Tax Partner from KPMG said :
"Despite the Chancellor assuring us that he was committed to Britain being the best place to start and grow a business, he threw the nation's SME community a curve ball by announcing changes to the NIC system. His announcement around a NIC rate change for the self-employed is a sticking plaster as the Government looks for a more permanent solution to the disparity between employees and the self-employed. For those entrepreneurs who believe reduced NI is the quid pro quo for a lack of paid annual leave and sickness pay, today's announcement may be a bitter pill to swallow.
"Add to the proposed NIC increases a reduction in the dividend allowance from £5k to £2k from April next year, and it was not a great day to be a small business owner.
"There were some sweeteners of course; the delay to digital tax reporting for micro businesses will no doubt alleviate some of their administrative burden, and the cushion for those businesses coming out of small business rate relief is also good news.
"However, these will do little to stop owner managers feeling they were hardest hit in today's final Spring Budget."
