Crawley MP, Henry Smith, has welcomed the bold new tax cut for local businesses and employers, which took effect last week.  

A new Employment Allowance will take £2,000 off the National Insurance bill of every employer – open to businesses, charities and community amateur sports clubs. This will take 68,000* small businesses across the South East out of having to pay any tax on jobs at all. 

Employers will be able to hire one extra person on £22,400 a year, or four people working full time on the minimum wage, without paying any National Insurance. 

Henry commented: 

“Crawley’s small businesses are the lifeblood of our local economy and so it’s right that this Government remains firmly on the side of the hardworking people and entrepreneurs who run them. 

“Having proactively engaged with small businesses across the country and listened to the factors that restrict them from growing and taking on new staff, I’m delighted that the Government has today responded by enacting a tax off jobs. 

“As a result of the difficult decisions that have been taken to reduce the national deficit by a third, the Government can afford to cut employer National Insurance by up to £2,000 for every business. 68,000* businesses in the South East will pay no employer National Insurance at all.

“Direct government spend with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has increased from 6.5 to 10.5 per cent since under Labour and a further indirect spend through the supply chain of 9.4 per cent.”

Over 90 per cent of firms benefiting from the tax cut will be small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Ministers are also announcing changes to the Prompt Payment Code so that small businesses are paid on time by the bigger firms they supply. 

In addition, Henry recently welcomed efforts by neighbouring Horsham MP, Francis Maude, within the Cabinet Office to reform government procurement and in ensuring a level playing field for SMEs.  Henry urge local small businesses to use the government’s Contracts Finder, which offers a one-stop online list of all procurement opportunities, tender documents and contracts over £10,000.