Election comment – View from industry: on corporate tax proposals

Tax has featured prominently in the opening days of the election campaign with considerable publicity around the Conservative proposals to scrap the Labour government's proposed national insurance increases with the support of many prominent business leaders. Unsurprisingly there has been less focus to date on corporate tax issues and much of the coverage of corporate taxation in the election manifestos is light on detail.

The Conservative manifesto has by far the most detail around corporation tax. They commit to improving Britain's international rankings for tax competitiveness in light of global reductions in corporation tax rates over the last decade and the complexity of the UK tax system. They propose cuts in the headline corporation tax rates with the aim of creating the most competitive tax system in the G20 within five years. The Labour manifesto is less specific on corporation tax and focuses more on...