FSB calls for small business tax rebates

The UK government should provide tax rebates and put a freeze on National Insurance contributions for small businesses in order to aid employment growth, the Federation of Small Business (FSB) has said.

According to the FSB's January survey, 58% of small businesses throughout the country said that business tax has been the main obstacle to taking on additional staff.

John Wright, the National chairman of the FSB, commented:

“The January employment figures showed a welcome fall in the number of people out of work but we fear the severity of the recession will begin to be evident when the latest figures are released.”

Mr Wright went on to say that the UK economy requires real action to get more people into work, especially younger people under the age of 25, who make up a significant proportion of the people currently out of work.

The FSB believes that cutting National Insurance contributions would help small companies to free up valuable funds and employ additional staff.

The latest government figures for January showed that there were 2.46 million unemployed people across the UK.