Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown is unlikely to unveil any radical changes affecting businesses in his Autumn Statement but may well increase taxes for individuals, says business and financial adviser Grant Thornton.
Ray Thomas, tax partner at Grant Thornton in Oxford, predicts that the Autumn Statement will focus on personal taxation.
Mr Thomas said: "Faced with mounting debt, the Chancellor will be seeking to claw back tax revenue from individuals rather than businesses."
"For the moment, he will adopt a laissez faire attitude towards corporate taxation, rather than risk placing businesses under further financial pressures."
He said that further increases to national insurance contributions (NICs) look likely. The Chancellor has already announced that NICs will increase by 1 per cent from April 2003.
He added: "The Government is failing UK businesses if it does not introduce measures to help them to grow."
Mr Thomas criticised the increase in NICs which would hit the poor. He said an increase in taxation should be directed at consumers via VAT rather than employees.
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