Prior to being elected Prime Minister, David Cameron, then leader of the opposition, appeared on the Andrew Marr show – among others – declaring that company formation and running a business in the UK was extremely difficult and overly bureaucratic.
Therefore, when the coalition was first came into power and the Emergency Budget first announced, it was expected to contain many provisions for making running a company much easier. However, apart from a minor reduction in Corporation Tax and some provisions to help small businesses and recent company formations deal with the cost of National Insurance, the budget failed to make any attempts at making the tax system less complex.
However, the Chancellor George Osborne pledged that his subsequent economic strategy was devised with the objective of putting an ‘Open for Business’ sign on the UK, and as he annouces plans to radically change the current tax system and devise a new ministry called the Office of Tax simplification, it seems he is staying to true to his word.
For now . . .