National Insurance Hike

"The proposed tax increase is bad for individuals and bad for business. As a start-up, it's expensive and risky taking on new employees and this makes it cost even more. I support paying tax where we get value as taxpayers or the government is providing essential services. But this money sounds like it is going to disappear into a black hole. Especially when we hear that this money will in fact go to the NHS (not social care) who are hiring no less than 42 new CEOs on £270k plus salaries per year."

"The idea of a National Insurance rate increase shouldn't just be postponed, it should be put in the bin and incinerated. I understand there's a need to recoup the billions spent on the pandemic, but seriously, open your eyes and read the room. Now is not the time. The last thing we need right now is for more businesses to collapse, creating an unemployment crisis. With the cost of inflation, the hike in energy prices, interest rate increases, and the cost of living higher than ever, so many employers and small businesses are barely hanging in there. Saddle them with this too and it could be curtains for them and their employees."

Generally speaking, modern civilisations tick along pretty well because everyone knows what the rules are, the majority of people follow them and people know the consequences of not following them. These same principles are also observed within mammalian groups too! Lately though it seems our very own silverbacks haven't necessarily been following the rules put in place for the whole tribe! Riots and civil unrest are usually preceded by people feeling that rules have not been followed and / or groups have been treated unfairly. Knowing what we know about recent rule breaking, it might well be that a new taxation system provokes widespread demonstrated acts of public dissatisfaction. It might therefore be wise to allow the dust to settle on the recent furore and for the whole of society to follow the same, predictable rules for a bit before introducing new ones which will likely cut close to the bone because it affects people's finances.

"It is ludicrous that NI tax is due to be increased for employers and employees in April. Small businesses have only just started repaying covid debts and households are seeing soaring prices. When the increase was announced in September last year we didn't have Omicron or record-breaking inflation. With that in mind, the government should delay it and just admit circumstances have changed."

"The Government are rightly under huge pressure to postpone the planned National Insurance hike. We have seen the cost of living crisis play out in the country, made worse by the huge increases in energy costs as well as inflation as a whole. We already have the highest tax burden since the end of WW2, so this is not the time to hike it further."

It's an opportunity to give businesses a welcome relief by pushing back the planned NI rate hikes. Whilst we all accept the government has borrowing to fund we didn't all benefit from handouts/relief during the pandemic nor are we relying on them now. We are more than paying our way but these rises, along with the avalanche of other cost increases we are facing have a real impact on SME's and I'm sure the cost of us going out of business far outweigh the additional income to the purse from the raise. I implore the Government to do the right thing on this occasion and push this back at the very least whilst we adjust to other pressures in the short term.

Raising NI just makes no sense when companies are struggling to pay Bounce Back loans are being hit with rising pay claims, Intrest rates, and supplies raising their prices. No one wants inflation to return but it looks inevitable with so many rises in business costs

Whilst logically, we can't spend what we don't have, this tax hike is a simplistic approach, leaving both the financial and adminstrative burden on individuals and SME businesses. The waste that most government big-headline and vanity projects result in is obviously too difficult to reduce, so it's easier to target those without a strong enough voice. About time the political class got its act together and gives proper support and encouragement to our SMEs instead of viewing us and the public as political savings accounts and instead help us to become cash generators. Abandon this tax hike and find someone with a good business head to find a less self-destructive approach.

Millions of UK freelancers could be the biggest losers in any tax grab. On top of a NI hike, they are already contending with a spree of added tax hikes and mechanisms, such as IR35, which has pushed a third of freelancers into unregulated payroll umbrella companies. There have been reports that unscrupulous umbrella companies could be costing workers and the exchequer as much as £4.5bn a year. Go after them, not law-abiding citizens. On top of that, many UK companies are now outsourcing jobs overseas because of IR35. Again, lost tax revenues. The Chancellor’s actions so far are arguably and inadvertently instigating the death knell for the country’s startup founders and freelancers alongside a spree of solvent businesses closing up shop.

Dealing with the NI rate rise in isolation is like putting a sticky plaster on one part of a large wound whilst leaving the rest to fester. NI rises are just a small part of an increasingly bigger problem which is the burden of increased taxes on small businesses who have not had time to recover (or breathe) before being hit with yet more increases over the last 2 years. Scrap it, and charge the government (if they can get their heads out of their own proverbials for long enough ) with spending the time and resources reviewing, and more importantly addressing the the bigger picture of tax responsibilities and where they should be apportioned.,

April's National Insurance hike should be postponed in my opinion. For starters, it breaks a Conservative 2019 election manifesto commitment not to increase taxes. Given recent events though, that's hardly a surprise. It's also highly regressive. Higher earners over £50k pay far less NI as a proportion of their income. On top of the huge surge in energy costs expected the same month, and the crippling fuel and food prices already with us, millions of people simply can't afford it. Time for a rethink Rishi.

An increase in taxes means lower take-home pay for employees, but the big question is how this tax hike may impact the labor market. A National Insurance hike of 1.25% means that annual NI taxes for the median full-time UK employee, who earns £31,772 a year, will rise from £2,664 to £2,941. Right now, thousands of UK employees are on the move, quitting voluntarily and reassessing their careers. Time will tell, but we could see more UK workers staying in their jobs for financial stability, or we may see more workers looking for higher-paying jobs to potentially offset the pay they'll no longer be receiving. For employers, it may be a signal that now is the time to offer higher salaries to help recruit them with more pay, since less will be going into workers' pockets.