Start-up businesses 'need tax breaks'

Small start-up businesses should be entitled to tax exemptions in their first year or two of trading, a new report has recommended.

The study, which was carried out by the British Library's Business & IP Centre, found that new businesses would benefit from tax exemptions during this initial period, to help them to become established.

Doug Richard, a former panel member on the BBC's Dragon's Den programme, who contributed to the report, said, 'If the Government is serious about encouraging enterprise in the UK, then they need to avoid gimmicks like the VAT cut, and offer start-ups a genuine exemption from tax until they get their businesses up and running'.

The report also recommends creating a fast-track scheme to help firms to patent ideas, increasing maternity leave subsidies, creating a new subsidised internship scheme, simplifying the process of applying for government contracts, and improving broadband speeds.