Election 2010: Business policies
Labour
-Business rates cut for one year from October.
-Double Entrepreneur's Relief.
-Increase small business rate relief.
-Time To Pay extended
-Small business credit adjudicator established to improve access to finance.
-Plan to cut regulation costs by £6.5bn by 2015.
Conservative
-Stop 2011 NIC increases
-NIC amnesty for first 10 employees a company hires in its first year
-Review small business tax (including IR35)
-Create Local Economic Partnerships
-Improve R&D tax credits
-Make small business rate relief automatic
-Reduce red tape for SMEs with 'one in one out' regulation rule.
Liberal Democrats
-Stop unfair bank and energy charges.
-More apprenticeships and university places.
-Make access to finance for regional businesses easier.
Green Party
-£2.5bn People's Bank to support green start-ups
-Set NMW at 60% of average earnings (approx £8.10/hr)
-Replace unified business rate with tax on land values
-End tax relief on pension contributions
UK Independence Party
-Phase out employers’ NI contributions
-Save £120bn a year by leaving the EU
-Abolish EU carbon capping, emissions trading and landfill tax schemes
-Amend Takeover Code to stop foreign interests acquiring strategic UK firms
Helping businesses through the recovery has been listed as a priority by all the major parties. This article covers the key business issues being grappled with during the campaign trail.
BCC calls for red tape review
4 May - In a pre-election statement, the British Chambers of Commerce issued a 12-point plan for growth, which included a call to drop Labour’s NI rate increase, a moratorium on new employment law and a systematic review of business regulations.
Failure to implement the 90-day plan "will mean a slower, or even non-existent, recovery", the organisation said. “During the first 90 days after an election, an incoming government must make concrete proposals to reduce red tape and tax burdens on business; review how to move the economy away from an over-reliance on consumption and the public sector; and commit to improving Britain’s energy, transport and digital infrastructure,” said BCC director general David Frost. More details from BusinessZone.co.uk
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Tories target Business Links
13 Apr - The Conservative manifesto laid out plans to replace the current system of Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) that supervise regional Business Link services with new ‘business led enterprise partnerships’ run by local councils and businesses. BusinessZone reports that shadow business secretary Mark Prisk criticised regional Business Links in February for “failing in their task”. The new enterprise agency network would be financed by councils and chambers of commerce, with matching funds from the government.
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Business chiefs petition against NIC increase
8 April - Business leaders are backing Conservative proposals to reverse the government's planned National Insurance increase. A total of 68 business leaders who employ almost one million people have now supported the Tories in opposing what the party calls a "tax on jobs". Labour intends to increase NI by 1% for anyone earning less than £45,400 a year. Among the supporters are Nick Robertson, the entrepreneur behind successful online clothes retailer ASOS; House of Fraser chief executive John King and Tim Steiner, the boss of Ocado.
Follow the election issues that matter on AccountingWEB
- General Election 2010 coverage tracks the main tax and business policy propsals
- Election 2010 discussion group - debate the issues with other political junkies
- Which way do you plan to vote? Let us know in our weekly online poll.
Continued...
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election
Whenever there is an election business tycoons are very much vigilant on what the election is going to be, because the success and economic growth highly depend on the elected officials, with regards to their economic plan and investment opportunities that they are going to establish. Other than that those leaders should also have the idea of what it takes to be economically stable. Kentucky Fried Chicken must be demolished. I think in the pursuit of this "low carb" business some people have gone completely too far with the meat sandwich idea (sans buns) and have used it as the impetus for some serious evil. Seriously – the KFC Double Down is ridiculous. Sandwiching bacon and cheese between two fried (or grilled) chicken patties is just grosse. Each time a person thinks about purchasing that, another cardiologist knows he'll never need payday loans. You basically are buying a doctor a new Mercedes and renewing his country club membership when you eat something like that.