FSB welcomes proposed NI tax break for new firms
Wed, 07 Oct 2009
The Conservative Party has pledged to introduce a new National Insurance (NI) tax holiday for start-ups, should it come to power at the next general election.
Speaking at the party conference in Manchester, Shadow Chancellor George Osborne said the plan could not only help innovation but also create up to 60,000 jobs.
Under the plan, employers would be able to claim tax breaks on the first ten people they recruit, encouraging them to expand in numbers and scale.
The Forum of Private Business (FPB), which is campaigning against a 0.5 per cent NI increase scheduled to take place in 2011, has offered a cautious welcome to the proposal.
Matt Goodman, the FPB's policy representative, said that abolishing NI for new start-ups was a "key announcement".
He said the 2011 rise would come into effect "just as small businesses are likely to be in a position to recruit staff in earnest".
"We will examine the savings that will need to be made to pay for this initiative, but welcome it in principle as a genuine stimulus to employment, small business growth and sustained economic recovery," Mr Goodman added.
Last week, John Wright, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, urged small businesses to offer graduate internships in a bid to grow their companies.
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