More than half (57%) of small business owners responding to a survey conducted by the Forum of Private Business would be willing to pay more tax in exchange for a simplified system, and 50% would be prepared to pay more under a simplified system ‘if that system cut down on tax avoidance among their competitors’.
The FPB declared that ‘tax avoidance is typically carried out by bigger businesses with the resources to exploit geographic loopholes’. Phil Orford, the FPB’s Chief Executive, said: ‘The cost of complying with Britain's hugely complex tax system is such that, if simplification and profitability result, most businesses believe a little more tax would be a price worth paying.’
Tax policy directly influences business behaviour, he added. ‘Small businesses are deeply concerned that the tax system favours large companies and is deeply unfair. Plans to clamp down on tax avoidance, for example, seem to fall short in several areas.
‘How can the government continue to allow major retailers to set up shop in the Channel Islands to deliberately undercut small shops and internet businesses by exploiting a VAT loophole that clearly distorts competition and leads to tax abuse?’
The Forum said it would continue ‘lobbying against tax avoidance schemes exploited by bigger businesses, such as the Low Value Consignment Relief loophole for goods mailed from the Channel Islands’. Last year it said that research had found that 68% of small employers believe the tax system is 'unfair', with 52% 'believing that larger firms have the resources to invest in tax loopholes where they cannot afford to do so themselves'.
More than half (57%) of small business owners responding to a survey conducted by the Forum of Private Business would be willing to pay more tax in exchange for a simplified system, and 50% would be prepared to pay more under a simplified system ‘if that system cut down on tax avoidance among their competitors’.
The FPB declared that ‘tax avoidance is typically carried out by bigger businesses with the resources to exploit geographic loopholes’. Phil Orford, the FPB’s Chief Executive, said: ‘The cost of complying with Britain's hugely complex tax system is such that, if simplification and profitability result, most businesses believe a little more tax would be a price worth paying.’
Tax policy directly influences business behaviour, he added. ‘Small businesses are deeply concerned that the tax system favours large companies and is deeply unfair. Plans to clamp down on tax avoidance, for example, seem to fall short in several areas.
‘How can the government continue to allow major retailers to set up shop in the Channel Islands to deliberately undercut small shops and internet businesses by exploiting a VAT loophole that clearly distorts competition and leads to tax abuse?’
The Forum said it would continue ‘lobbying against tax avoidance schemes exploited by bigger businesses, such as the Low Value Consignment Relief loophole for goods mailed from the Channel Islands’. Last year it said that research had found that 68% of small employers believe the tax system is 'unfair', with 52% 'believing that larger firms have the resources to invest in tax loopholes where they cannot afford to do so themselves'.
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