Well, this week saw the end of our dividend tax campaign, and needless to say we didn’t hit the 100,000 we needed to get our debate in parliament.
We definitely gave it our very best shot, reaching a final total of 58,292 signatures. Clearly not where we wanted to be, but considering most petitions only get a few hundred we’re figuring it’s not too shabby an effort!
On Tuesday this week I was on a panel at a Network LE breakfast event in Leicester – along with 3 tax experts in front of an audience of around 70 business leaders. What was very obvious is that the Government is very focused on small business tax.
And we’re easy targets aren’t we? It’s far easier to hit us than collect the tax that the big corporates get away with not paying.
What’s been very clear from running this campaign is that no one has the voice of small business. There just isn’t any joined up thinking from the bodies that supposedly are here to represent us.
So what can we expect?
The tax experts are expecting the quarterly tax returns to go ahead, with the aim of collecting our corporation tax earlier, and with an expectation that dividend tax will be payable quarterly at some point in the future.
Despite the political rhetoric of the government putting small business at the heart of their 5 -year plan; they do seem to be on a mission to actually make it harder.
Some experts believe that the dividend tax is just the start of tax increases for business owners. The government want to close the gap between employees and the business owners, which tells us that actually they don’t understand or value the risk taking involved in creating jobs for others.
I’m not government bashing, I’ve always been a Conservative and believed they were the party for business.
What next?
I think we have to accept that increased taxes, paid sooner are coming our way.
So it’s never been more important to put your corporation tax, vat, and now dividend tax away into a separate bank account and make sure you never consider these taxes as part of your working capital. Keeping on top of your finances has never been more important.