Brown urged to delay tax changes

The chair of the Government's own Small Business Council has called on the Chancellor to agree to a moratorium on new tax laws for two years and has criticised the Government's clampdown on married couple's business tax.

According to a report in The Telegraph, William Sargent, chairman of the Small Business Council, said Chancellor Gordon Brown should follow the lead of Patricia Hewitt, Trade and Industry Secretary, who has promised not to introduce any new family friendly employment law until 2006.

Mr Sargent said there was a "general agreement" between business and Government that things need to be simplified - and the delay should occur even if that meant improved conditions were also delayed.

He said: "Our view is that one of the most effective things people can do is to simplify things. But it's difficult to simplify if you change things once or twice a year in the Finance Bill.

"Anything that provides coherence and stability is good, even if that stability is at the price of a delay in a small, good thing."

Section 660

He also fired a warning shot about Section 660 - the so-called married couple's business tax. The Revenue recently won a Special Commissioners landmark case involving Arctic Systems, which had led to much concern among family-owned businesses that they would now be facing a Revenue clampdown and huge tax bills.

Mr Sargent said that as a result hundreds of millions of pounds of planned investment will be put on hold while the uncertainty over their tax bills is resolved.

Consultation

Mr Sargent was more complimentary about the access small business now had to Government and did not share the fears of the small business trade groups that Government ministers were not prepared to listen to concerns over policy.

He said: "Over the last three years the access has gone from zero to absolutely first class. They may not listen or agree when I am in the door, but the council has incredible access."

Merger

Mr Sargent also saw the merger of the Inland Revenue and Customs & Excise as a "huge opportunity" to improve the way the Government collects tax from business and called for 'creative thinking' to be applied to it.

In particular, Mr Sargent said the merged tax office should co-ordinate inspections to reduce the amount of form filing that is currently required.

Full article: Brown urged to hold off on new tax laws - November 1, 2004