Mark Castle

We need to drastically raise the VAT threshold. Once your turnover hits 90k, your business is forced to charge VAT. What do thousands of businesses do? Hover just below the threshold, understandably deliberately refusing growth. It's that, or whack the price up for non-VAT registered customers. The current threshold is suffocating British small business - anyone dealing with it knows just how frustrating it can be. People talk of red tape strangling growth - here is just ONE example. Double it, at least. Incentivise growth, and what will happen? Businesses will GROW. Slashing back paperwork and bureaucracy which consumes SO much time. It's that, or pay someone to do it. MORE cost. The people designing and implementing the rules don't run companies, they don't understand business. And it shows. I want a red tape bonfire visible from space. Do that, then the economy can think about properly growing. Start with IR35, and raising the VAT threshold. Plenty more must follow... And actually, most importantly? Listen to the people running small businesses. They know better than the politicians!