Calls for employers NIC to be scrapped

FSB calls for NI burden to be slashed The Federation of Small Businesses is urging the Government to reduce employer national insurance contributions to help small firms struggling with higher costs. Nearly two thirds of respondents to the FSB’s Small Business Index survey said their operating costs had risen over the past year, with raw materials, labour, utilities and fuel the chief contributors to the rise. The federation’s survey also found that 37% of small companies blamed insufficient access to “appropriately” skilled staff as a main barrier to growth over the next 12 months. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the FSB, said: “This government was elected on a manifesto that promised to cut the jobs tax and ministers must rediscover that reformist zeal if they want to unlock growth within the small business community.”