Business group calls for overhaul of tax system

A leading freelancer organisation, The Professional Contractors Group (PCG), has called for an independent review of business tax in the UK.

The Group, which has campaigned tirelessly against various tax measures, such as IR35 and income shifting, has suggested that once the review is conducted and reforms made, the Government should guarantee a period of stability in the tax system with none of the constant chopping and changing of recent years.

The paper recommends that changes suggested by an independent review should be implemented over the course of the next Westminster parliament, and that for at least the parliament after that there should be no significant changes to the tax system: if the Government wishes to increase or reduce the tax yield, it should do so solely by varying rates.

The paper also calls for self-employed people to continue to be taxed differently from employees: the self-employed receive fees for providing services and are exposed to commercial risk; they must not be taxed in the same way as employees, who receive salaries for providing labour and are not exposed to risk.

The PCG’s MD John Brazier said: “Our new position paper represents a significant contribution to the debate around taxation in the UK. In it, we identify where the problems are, and some of the solutions; but what we really want to see is an independent review deciding the exact shape of new reforms in a genuinely consultative manner.”

The PCG Position Paper on Tax can be downloaded here: