Entrepreneurs demand tax break for start-ups

A new report has suggested that tax breaks at the start of a new business' life would be central to driving recovery in the UK economy.

The call, made by former Dragon's Den panellist Doug Richard, is featured in Enterprising Voices, produced by the British Library Business and IP Centre.

According to Richard, who is one of a group of small business experts contributing to the report, the Government must stop flirting with "gimmicks" - such as the VAT reduction - and instead provide a "genuine exemption" from tax for at least the first 18 months of a start-up's life.

Other suggestions include calls on the Government to look into subsidising the "huge burden" that maternity leave places on small businesses, while also providing subsidies for a national internship scheme to provide SMEs with apprentices and encourage graduates to view entrepreneurship as a career choice.

Meanwhile, technical suggestions include increasing the UK's broadband speed and implementing a fast-track system to make it quicker and easier for small businesses to patent their ideas.

A spokesman for the British Library Business and IP Centre told More Than Business News that offering new firms a tax-free period at the start of their lives would offset any damage to the economy through lost tax revenue by encouraging entrepreneurship.

"The Government brought in the VAT reduction, but it has caused so many problems for companies, with a lot of admin - it has been more of a gimmick and hasn't had a real effect," he said.

"New start-ups need genuine relief.

"This would encourage people to start a business and get it off the ground - it would be a real incentive and would help the economy as a whole."

IMAGE Matt Faber/PA