What the manifestos say about taxation

Ever wondered what the party manifestos actually say?? Ever tried to read them? It’s a real challenge!

I’ve read (well skimmed) through literally hundreds of pages of policies in the manifestos to save you the trouble!?

I’ve tried to extract directly the words used by the five main UK parties to describe their policies as they relate to business and classify them under headings to help you compare them

As you’d probably understand doing this fairly has been tricky. Extracting actual commitments and plans from hype, opinions and vague intentions isn’t always easy and neither is identifying and classifying the business policies. So please accept that I’ve had to make judgements even in doing that!

Taxation on business / employment / investment

Labour

We will ensure taxes on working people are kept as low as possible. Labour will not increase taxes on working people, which is why we will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher, or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.

We will abolish non-dom status once and for all, replacing it with a modern scheme for people genuinely in the country for a short period.?

Private equity is the only industry where performance-related pay is treated as capital gains. Labour will close this loophole.

We will modernise HMRC and change the law to tackle tax avoidance. We will increase registration and reporting requirements, strengthen HMRC’s powers, invest in new technology and build capacity within HMRC.

A renewed focus on tax avoidance by large businesses.

It is not just the rates of tax that matter, but also certainty. We are committed to one major fiscal event a year, giving families and businesses due warning of tax and spending policies.

We will publish a roadmap for business taxation for the next parliament which will allow businesses to plan investments with confidence.?

Labour will cap corporation tax at the current level of 25 per cent for the entire parliament, and we will act if tax changes in other countries pose a risk to UK competitiveness.

We will retain a permanent full expensing system for capital investment and the annual investment allowance for small business.

We will give firms greater clarity on what qualifies for allowances to improve business investment decisions.

In England, Labour will replace the business rates system, so we can raise the same revenue but in a fairer way. This new system will level the playing field between the high street and online giants, better incentivise investment, tackle empty properties and support entrepreneurship.

Conservative

We will not raise the rate of income tax or VAT.

We will not raise corporation tax.

For the very smallest businesses, the four million people who are self-employed, we will abolish the main rate of National Insurance entirely.

Cut tax for workers by taking another 2p off employee National Insurance to 6% by April 2027 – the next step in our long-term ambition to end the double tax on work when financial conditions allow.

Cut taxes to support the self-employed by abolishing the main rate of self-employed National Insurance entirely by the end of the Parliament.

Ease business rates for high street, leisure and hospitality businesses by increasing the multiplier on distribution warehouses that support online shopping over time.

Keep the VAT threshold under review and explore options to smooth the cliff edge at ￡90,000.?

Lift the employee threshold allowing more companies to be considered medium-sized. This is expected to save small businesses at least one million hours of admin per year.???

Maintain our R&D tax reliefs.

We will not increase Capital Gains Tax.

Our long-term ambition is to abolish National Insurance.

We will abolish? the main rate of National Insurance for the self-employed entirely by the end of the next Parliament. 93% of self-employed people - four million of them – will no longer pay self-employed National Insurance.

Lib Dem

Impose a proper, one-o? windfall tax on the super-pro?ts of oil and gas producers and traders.

Restore Bank Surcharge and Bank Levy revenues to 2016 levels in real terms.

Work with partners in international forums, including the OECD and the UN, to tackle international corporate tax avoidance for the bene?t of all countries and make the case for increasing the global minimum rate of corporation tax to 21%.

Our priority for tax cuts, when the public ?nances allow, will be to cut income tax by raising the tax-free personal allowance, bene?tting the vast majority of families and taking more low-paid workers out of paying income tax altogether.

Review the tax and National Insurance status of employees, dependent contractors and freelancers to ensure fair and comparable treatment.

Increase the Digital Services Tax on social media ?rms and other tech giants from 2% to 6%.

Reform capital gains tax to close loopholes exploited by the super wealthy.

Introduce a 4% tax on the share buyback schemes of FTSE-100 listed companies, to incentivise productive investment, job creation and economic growth.

End retrospective tax changes such as the loan charge

Review the Government’s o?-payroll working IR35 reforms to ensure self-employed people are treated fairly.

Give HMRC the resources it needs to properly tackle tax avoidance and evasion.

Abolish business rates and replace them with a Commercial Landowner Levy to help our high streets.

Green

A Wealth Tax of 1% annually on assets above ￡10 million and of 2% on assets above ￡1bn. Only a tiny minority of people would pay this tax.

Reform of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to align the rates paid by taxpayers on income and taxable gains. This would affect less than 2% of all income taxpayers.

Aligning the tax rates on investment income with the tax and National Insurance Contribution rates on employment income.

Removing the Upper Earnings Limit that restricts the amount of National Insurance paid by high earners.

Introduce a carbon tax on all fossil fuel imports and domestic extraction, based on greenhouse gas emissions produced when fuel is burned.

Reform

Lift the income tax starting threshold to ￡20k to save the lowest paid ￡1,500 per year. The higher rate should begin at ￡70,000. Basic Tax rate stays at 20%.

Lower fuel duty by 20p per litre for both residential and business users. Scrap VAT on energy bills. Scrap environmental levies.

Abolish the VAT Tourist Tax. Reinstate the VAT refund scheme for tourist shopping.

Free Small and Medium Sized Businesses from Corporation Tax. Lift the minimum profit threshold to ￡100k.

Reduce the main Corporation Tax Rate from 25% to 20% then to 15% from Year 3.

Abolish IR35 Rules to Support Sole Traders

Lift the VAT Threshold to ￡150,000

Abolish Business Rates for high street based SMEs. Offset this with Online Delivery Tax at 4% for large, multinational enterprises to create a fairer playing field for high streets.

Cut entrepreneurs’ tax to 5%.?

Fast-track new housing on brownfield sites and infrastructure projects to boost businesses, especially in coastal regeneration areas, Wales, the North, and the Midlands.?

Reform the Tax System Major simplification is needed. At over 21,000 pages, the UK’s tax code is a burden.?

Tax relief of 20% on all Independent Education. No VAT on Fees.

Tax Relief of 20% on all Private Healthcare and Insurance.

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