No new taxes and a moratorium on regulations, says BCC

19 March 2010

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called on the government not to impose new business taxes and to reduce the burden of red tape in its Budget submission.

The BCC wants to see the planned increase of 1 per cent in NICs cancelled and to be replaced with a 1 per cent rise in VAT to offset the cost.

Estimating that new employment legislation over the next four years will cost businesses up to £25 billion, the BCC has urged a three-year moratorium on new employment law.

In its other proposals, the BCC argued the case for providing more support for export trade finance and for continued investment in the UK's transport, digital, and energy networks.

Another priority was a clear plan for reducing the budget deficit, including a freeze in the total public sector wage bill and fundamental reform of public sector pensions.

David Frost, the BCC's director general, said: "Without a successful and profitable business base of some scale we are going to find it hard to climb out of the economic mess we are in.

"Here is my five point plan: no new taxes on businesses; a reduction in the burdens on business; more successful, growing companies; turn the vision of an export-led recovery into a reality; and underpin all of this with a credible plan and timetable to reduce the country's deficit - without spending cuts to vital infrastructure."