Small business owners are so completely and utterly peeved off with the UK's tax system, many may soon refuse to hand over what they should to the taxman!
An outrageous statement you may think but it's a claim made today by the Professional Contractors Group.
In a stinging attack, the PCG hits out at ministers for what it calls a system plagued by complexity, uncertainty and inconsistency.
The PCG knows what it's talking about. The group represented Diana and Geoff Jones in the famous Arctic Systems case. HMRC lost the long, drawn out battle over income shifting but could still end up getting what it wanted in the first place.
I believe the PCG has got it right. Saying that thousands of entrepreneurs will be driven to non-compliance may seem dramatic - in fact I'm interested to know if entrepreneurs really are considering it - but it's a warning that ministers must take note of - and fast.
Time and time again over the past year or so, the government have fiddled and adjusted the tax system all in the name of simplification. But far from simplying the lot of small business, it has created an unmangeable and damaging mess.
Entrepreneurs simply don't know what to do. The soundbites coming out of the Treasury may imply that ministers care about SMEs but their actions certainly don't.
I back the PCG's call for an immediate independent review of small business taxation. And that review should not like others we've seen before drag on for months and result in a worthless report. It should introduce effective and consistent changes to put small businesses, the engine room of the UK economy, on an equal footing with their large company counterparts.
An outrageous statement you may think but it's a claim made today by the Professional Contractors Group.
In a stinging attack, the PCG hits out at ministers for what it calls a system plagued by complexity, uncertainty and inconsistency.
The PCG knows what it's talking about. The group represented Diana and Geoff Jones in the famous Arctic Systems case. HMRC lost the long, drawn out battle over income shifting but could still end up getting what it wanted in the first place.
I believe the PCG has got it right. Saying that thousands of entrepreneurs will be driven to non-compliance may seem dramatic - in fact I'm interested to know if entrepreneurs really are considering it - but it's a warning that ministers must take note of - and fast.
Time and time again over the past year or so, the government have fiddled and adjusted the tax system all in the name of simplification. But far from simplying the lot of small business, it has created an unmangeable and damaging mess.
Entrepreneurs simply don't know what to do. The soundbites coming out of the Treasury may imply that ministers care about SMEs but their actions certainly don't.
I back the PCG's call for an immediate independent review of small business taxation. And that review should not like others we've seen before drag on for months and result in a worthless report. It should introduce effective and consistent changes to put small businesses, the engine room of the UK economy, on an equal footing with their large company counterparts.
