Tax compliance burden on SMEs

 Tax compliance process weighing down SMEs

The Federation of Small Businesses is calling for simplification of the tax compliance process after research revealed that the average business owner spends £5,000 and three working weeks every year on tax compliance. Almost half of respondents to a survey of more than 1,000 companies said that business rates had made expanding their organisation more difficult. The same proportion said that corporation tax had hampered growth, with similar numbers stating that development had been hit by Employer NICs. One in seven said that VAT had halted expansion. Mike Cherry, national chairman of the FSB, said the “rollout of Making Tax Digital needs to be seen as an opportunity to radically improve the small business user experience of Revenue & Customs.”

Source: The Times (19/02/2018)