The government has been urged not to impose additional taxes on smaller businesses.
Doing so would, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) argued, cost many thousands of jobs.
The FSB pointed to the findings of a study carried out on its behalf by leading think-tank, the Centre for Economic and Business Research (CEBR).
According to the study, adding to the tax burden of small firms, which comprise the vast majority of UK businesses, would serve only to plunge the economy further into debt and to sweep many more jobs out of the labour market.
The CEBR report calculated that the 0.5 per cent increase in National Insurance contributions, planned for April 2011, will result in so many job losses among SMEs that the corresponding rise in the tax take would make only the smallest dent in the current public finance deficit. (more…)