As the Labour party battles to try and win over voters in the next general election in 2014, Labour leader Ed Miliband seems determined to try and get not only individuals onside but also small businesses across the UK.
In a bid to try and get SMBs onside, Labour intends to become the party that works hard for small businesses, albeit at the expense of large corporations.
The Labour party is promising that if it is voted into power next year, it will be slashing business rates for small companies.
This will, however, come at a cost of around £800 million per year for larger companies and corporations. By increasing the taxes that larger firms pay on their profits, the Labour party aims to reduce business rates for smaller businesses.
Not to be outdone, ministers from the coalition are drawing up their own plans for business rate reductions, and it is thought that these plans will most likely be announced later in the autumn as the battle of the parties grows more intense. However, Labour is already putting a strong focus on its intentions to help small businesses.
Labour Vs The Coalition on Business
Since coming into power, the coalition has made a number of cuts to the corporation taxes paid by larger companies and corporations, stating that this is the ideal way to attract international companies to the UK and boost the British economy.
However, Labour is taking quite a different stance by focusing on charging more tax to the larger corporations that make huge profits and cutting the business rates that SMBs have to pay.
According to reports, Miliband has argued that smaller businesses are more deserving of the government’s support, particularly in the current economic climate. He stated that the cuts planned by the Labour party would equate to around £450 for every business property.
He argued that for too long Britain has supported some businesses but not others. He added that when it came to future employment, opportunities would be coming from a large number of SMBs rather than a small number of large ones.
Labour has said that the rate cuts will apply to properties with a value of under £50,000, with officials from the party stating that hundreds of thousands of small businesses across the country would be able to enjoy the benefits of the planned rate cuts.
