Hot Features
Premium
Customisable watchlists with full streaming quotes from leading exchanges, such as LSE, NASDAQ, NYSE, AMEX, Bovespa, BIT and more.
With one eye on the 2015 election George Osborne’s budget will put politics before the action the economy desperately needs, with goverment press briefings indicating that it will not feature the radical measures businesses need to grow.
Private investors website ADVFN has filled this economic void with a budget by business for business, featuring policies on tax, regulation, legislation, ISAs, apprenticeships and national insurance.
Compiled with exclusive research, analysis and content by some of the UK’s leading business leaders, analysts, investors and traders The ADVFN Alternative Budget 2013, available below, is a ten point plan that gives voice to the strategies and decisions necessary to generate growth:
- The cuts the country needs and can afford are tax cuts, by Clem Chambers – CEO of ADVFN and author of The Death of Wealth: The Economic Fall of the West.
- Flat taxes on income: 20% for earnings of £10k plus, 30% for over £50k, and 35% for over £500k, by Robbie Burns – Author of The Naked Trader and The Naked Trader’s Trading Diary 2013.
- Corporate tax and National Insurance cuts to generate 2% GDP growth, by Zak Mir – Senior Analyst, Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management and author of Lessons from the Financial Markets for 2013.
- Simplify the tax code and compliance legislation to reduce legal costs for businesses, by John Piper – Trader and author of the BIG CALL.
- Support small businesses by lowering Small Company Tax to 15% and Corporation Tax to 20%, by Arnab Dutt – Managing Director of manufacturer and exporter Texane.
- Commit to investing in infrastructure to make the UK Europe’s technology hub, by Peter Lelliott – UK Head of Enterprise at NTT DATA.
- Invest in SMBs and the future by improving computer science teaching to end our reliance on the City, by Gary Calcott – Technical Product Manager at Progress Software.
- A National Insurance subsidy to ease the strain on businesses, by Tony Wilmot – Co-founder of recruitment website staffbay.com.
- Relax taxes on business so they can invest in training and apprenctieships, by Jason Woodford – CEO of digital marketing agency SiteVisibility.
- Super ISAs with a subscription limit of £50k to encourage savings, by Nick Hungerfood – CEO and founder of investment manager Nutmeg.com.
CEO of ADVFN and co-author of the Alternative Budget Clem Chambers said “The proposed range of tax, regulation and investments measures make the Alternative Budget the radical plan the UK economy needs.
The message is clear; the UK economy needs radical tax cuts to lets businesses grow, sweeping legal reform to remove the burden of costs crippling firms and immediate investment to allow technology businesses to grow and train and educate the next generation of leaders to repair the UK’s battered economy and secure a positive financial future.
Covering recruitment, investing, legislation, manufacturing, small business, technology, apprentices and training the ADVFN Alternative Budget is based on expert knowledge and insight and is the budget UK businesses have been waiting for.
Addressing our specialist areas my fellow co-authors and I are putting years of practical business experience and personal perspectives to effective use and are speaking from the real economy outside of the Whitehall bubble the government’s thinking is trapped in.
These are the measures businesses need and it will be telling how far removed the Chancellor’s budget is from economic reality”.
The cuts the country needs and can afford are tax cuts.
What you tax you get less of and what you subsidise you get more of. This is standard politics for both left and right.
Lowering income tax is therefore one way to increase prosperity. Less tax equals more jobs which equal more spending.
But wait: the government can’t balance its budget, so the country can’t afford tax cuts. Yes it can, the UK can afford small cuts in taxation. The government should cut the base rate of tax by 0.25% per annum and cut the top rate by the same amount. This budget should lay out a plan to slowly roll back employment taxes by small yearly quantum for the foreseeable future.
In the age of austerity there are no quick fixes but tiny yearly changes lowering taxes over the long term can be accommodated and over the lifetime of a parliament, or perhaps two, will completely change the face of Britain.
If you tax the rich, there will be less of them, if you subsidise the poor there will be more.
Budgets needs to stop being acute changes of policy and instead institute long term gentle realignments to nudge the crippled super tanker of the British economy toward the right course. Consistent incremental change is the solution to Britain’s challenges, not new long term strategies of the week.
– Clem Chambers is CEO of ADVFN and author of The Death of Wealth: The Economic Fall of the West.
Flat taxes on income: 20% for earnings of £10k plus, 30% for over £50k, and 35% for over £500k.
For one year trial a flat tax system and immediately cut taxes for everyone.
I would suggest 20% flat tax for earnings of £10k plus and 30% for over £50k, finally 35% for over 500k.
Do away with all the plethora of tax rules allowing business owners to spend time doing business not filling up forms.
A flat tax would immediately stimulate the economy. Those currently paying 60% taxes taking NI into account would be encouraged to work harder as they would be keeping more of their own money. People would also feel richer, so spending more money and lifting the economy.
Those who create wealth and jobs would come back to the UK. Tax avoidance would cease almost totally as those currently avoiding/evading would just pay it all.
– Robbie Burns is the author of The Naked Trader and The Naked Trader’s Trading Diary 2013.
Corporate tax and National Insurance cuts to generate 2% GDP growth.
The first and most important thing to say is, for the love of God, George, make this your last Budget.
It is apparent that you may be a nice guy, good background, have the home furnishing business quietly losing money, but really have no aptitude whatsoever to be at Number 11 Downing Street.
I am also focusing on something, which like the Chancellor resigning, is not going to happen: massive tax cuts. If the Fiscal Cliff taught us / reminded us of something, it is that the main difference between the U.S. and the rest of the world is the attitude towards taxation there. Going over the Fiscal Cliff there in 2013 would have meant going from a 2.2% GDP growth rate to say 0% to -1%. And of course around 0% is what the UK and the EU are boasting at the moment as we apparently enjoy taxing ourselves up to the eyeballs, after bailing out money wasting banks and engaging in unsustainable welfare. So basically, if the U.S. followed the same “socialist” model we have on this side of the Atlantic it would be just another PIIGS nation.
My Budget message is that the government should introduce massive corporate tax, income tax and national insurance cuts. Would that bump up the national debt and destroy Austerity? Yes. But when you are over £1tn in debt another couple of hundred billion makes no difference and I would rather be £1.4tn in debt with 2% GDP growth than £1.2tn and heading into a triple dip recession.
– Zak Mir is Senior Analyst at Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management and author of Lessons from the Financial Markets for 2013.
Simplify the tax code and compliance legislation to reduce legal costs for businesses.
Back in the 1980s I was a tax specialist and even then the tax legislation was too complex. It has only got worse and in many areas has lost the key feature of good law – certainty! Even high priced lawyers often cannot give you a clear statement of how current legislation affects us and, much too often, the final arbiter is how the Tax Authorities decide to interpret a particular point themselves (and it is just the same with the FSA and compliance legislation). The only beneficiaries of this mess are the self same high priced lawyers and business can often find itself in a quagmire as it tries to generate more revenue, and thus more tax – ultimately it is business and its employees which fund the whole economy and, as such, this is intolerable. So the first step is simplicity – all this uncertain and complex legislation must be swept away.
In particular certain taxes are uneconomic to collect as they yield less than the costs involved in collection, for example Capital Gains Tax. These should be abolished entirely but I would go further and abolish all indirect personal taxation. So no more Income tax, no more National Insurance, no more Inheritance Tax, no more CGT but I would leave Corporation Tax in place. People would then be free to spend their money how they want.
– John Piper is a renowned trading expert and author of the BIG CALL.
Support small businesses by lowering Small Company Tax to 15% and Corporation Tax to 20%.
I want a budget that will enable business growth. Lowering the small company tax rate to 15%, helping millions of small businesses. Lowering normal corporation tax rate to 20% which will help UK businesses and attract overseas companies to set up here. I want capital allowances increased to £1 million so that manufacturers are incentivised to invest for growth.
Fuel duty increases should also be suspended as they are hurting all households and businesses. Personal allowances to go up to £10,000 helping the low paid and I want a commitment to invest more in infrastructure to kick start UK manufacturing.
– Arban Dutt is the owner and managing director of polyurethane wheel manufacturer and exporter Texane.
Commit to investing in infrastructure to make the UK Europe’s technology hub.
To lift economic growth and encourage businesses to set up operation in the UK, the government needs to make good on its commitment to investments in infrastructure in the UK’s key cities.
We’d like to see the Chancellor further his investment in infrastructure and mobile connection to help reach the aim of making the UK the technology hub of Europe. The recent 4G auction is a good step in this direction however more will need to be done to provide telecoms and business infrastructure that will empower workforces and help the UK compete with other growing economies.
Additionally, opening up trade links with countries such as India and easing visa regulations for skilled workers will enable European organisations such as ourselves to share skills across markets. This not only brings new skills into the UK to address the IT skills shortage, but allows for ongoing training and upskilling of local talent too.
– Peter Lelliott is UK Head of Enterprise at NTT DATA.
Invest in SMBs and the future by improving computer science teaching to end our reliance on the City.
If the Chancellor is serious about making the UK “Europe’s technology centre” he has to understand that true innovation should be driven by the nation’s small businesses, but that many of them lack the skills they need to make this a reality. The government has to offer a short term fix to augment a long term remedy that will encourage this country’s entrepreneurs to drive innovation upwards. It’s easy to see there’s already a sizeable disconnect between an industry moving towards mobile at great pace, and the benefits it can bring, and the ability of businesses to reflect this in the skills of their workforce.
In the longer term, it’s clear that programming language skills need to be on the curriculum and taught in schools if we want to encourage the next generation of developers. It’s in the interests of everyone for these skills to be brought through. SMBs are the backbone of the economy, but if they’re not innovating, they’re not succeeding. The only way for Britain to be a genuine innovation leader in the years to come is if the government can produce and integrate world-class developers throughout the country’s small businesses. This in turn will reduce our economic dependancy on the banking industry.
– Gary Calcott is Technical Product Manager at Progress Software.
A National Insurance subsidy to ease the strain on businesses.
Osborne needs to start listening to businesses, many of whom are calling for a National Insurance subsidy on employees for six, twelve or even eighteen months to ease the strain they’re experiencing. This can’t happen soon enough, in my opinion, and would go some way to stimulating much-needed growth in the economy.
Furthermore, the Chancellor should review the entire tax regime. This labyrinthine system needs to be made much simpler and easier to understand, and a flat rate should be introduced. This would leave businesses to get on with the task of creating further jobs.
Red tape has been a burden on business for too long. If the Chancellor is serious about getting the economy moving again, then he needs to look at and reform the legislation that hinders human resources and recruitment.
– Tony Wilmot is co-founder of recruitment website staffbay.com.
Relax taxes on business so they can invest in training and apprenctieships.
Some measures need to be introduced in the Budget to support UK business growth and reduce the tax burden. Mr Osborne needs to reinforce his message that “Britain is open for business”. To that end I would like to see relaxed tax measures on businesses that invest in training, apprenticeships and work placements; perhaps building on the R&D tax credit model. Traditionally, when times are tough, training is one of the first areas to take a cut; but that is actually a short-sighted move.
I believe that now more employers, from across various sectors and industries, are starting to recognise that nurturing your own talent, particularly when times are uncertain, unearths much-needed skills and agility to meet the demands of their customers. Small and mid-sized businesses that invest in employee training as well as firms that hire students in skilled jobs must be rewarded, and relaxed payroll tax measures is the way to do it. By doing so, this will encourage more businesses nationwide to take on work placements and trainees to develop graduates to their own required standards therefore ensuring that they avoid a stagnation through lack of skills.
Businesses need to take the bull by the horn and believe in themselves that training and development is the way forward; I encourage Mr Osborne to display similar confidence to ensure a brighter future for the UK skills-set and economy.
– Jason Woodford is CEO of digital marketing agency SiteVisibility.
Super ISAs with a subscription limit of £50k to encourage savings.
We would like to see the Chancellor introduce a Super Isa with a subscription limit of £50k per annum; a savings vehicle that would encourage people to invest and make provision for their future. We advocate a reduction or amnesty on inheritance tax laws that encourages a large transfer of wealth from older to younger generations.
The budget is likely to be neutral for businesses as the Chancellor fights to keep businesses based in the UK and preserve jobs. We do not expect to see much movement on corporation tax or VAT.
Legislation may well be favourable for small businesses and we hope to see changes to employment law (making it more flexible to manage a workforce) and visa law (making it easier to import the greatest talent from all around the world).
– Nick Hungerfood is CEO and founder of investment manager Nutmeg.com.
