Self employed tax raid?

 Hammond under pressure to scrap self-employed tax raid

Philip Hammond is facing calls to abandon plans for a £1bn raid on the self-employed amid warnings it will harm Britain"s growing entrepreneurial culture. According to the Mail, the Chancellor is planning a rise in National Insurance rates for the self-employed in the Budget to bring them closer to the level paid by those in salaried jobs. The move could eventually see the National Insurance rate paid by self-employed people rise from 9% to 12%. The Treasury believes this could close a loophole that allows some well-paid individuals to avoid tax by declaring themselves self-employed, but the FSB has warned that the number of entrepreneurs could start to fall if the Chancellor presses ahead with the idea. Elsewhere, the Guardian says Mr Hammond is also coming under pressure to scrap cuts to IHT, corporation and income tax in order to plough money into benefits. Analysis by the Resolution Foundation shows that real wages could start falling by the end of the year, while the government"s welfare freeze will take £3.6bn more than expected from some of the poorest people in the country by 2020.

Daily Mail (07/03/2017)