Praveen Gupta, UK head of tax at Azets, an international accountancy and business advisory group with an office in Poole, says the current approach is holding back Dorset entrepreneurs and stalling economic growth across the country.

Mr Gupta said: “There is no incentive to set up, scale and sell a business in the UK.

“It costs more than ever to recruit staff and if you are able to sell your company, the Treasury takes a bigger slice of the proceeds than it has in decades.

Praveen Gupta, UK head of tax at Azets, warns Britain’s tax system is crushing entrepreneurs in Dorset and needs to be changed if the government wants more people to start, scale and sell a business. (Image: Deep South Media)

“We understand the government needs to balance the books, but right now the tax system is preventing entrepreneurs from doing what they do best and the economy is suffering as a result.”

He warned that unless urgent changes are made, emerging talent could either move abroad or abandon plans to start new ventures entirely.

Mr Gupta called for a four-part reform plan, including raising the employment allowance to £50,000, cutting capital gains tax (CGT) to 10 per cent for business sales, restoring the business asset disposal relief (BADR) lifetime limit to £5million, and introducing a two-year employment tax roadmap.

He said: “This approach would make it easier for businesses to hire, reward founders who have successfully exited a company – especially an SME – and provide stability for the UK business community about the government’s plans for employment tax policy.”

He believes increasing the employment allowance would reduce national insurance costs for businesses and boost hiring confidence.

Mr Gupta said: “A £50,000 employment allowance threshold would cut the National Insurance costs of the SMEs in the UK, as an employer wouldn’t have to pay anything unless their wage bill was more than £333,333 – currently NIC is due when a wage bill reaches circa £70,000.

“This small change would make a significant difference to SMEs – and to the UK’s employment figures – as firms would be more willing to hire people as they would know the NI costs could be managed and they’d have the funds to do it.”