Sorry another election thread, but this one is for small business owners.

[Sammi38]

Anyone else own a small business, how are you feeling about the election?

What do you feel about Labours tax proposals for those of us that own our own businesses?

Small business owner (two in fact). Already voted Labour.

Very happy to vote Labour. I can't see why anyone in their right mind would want to continue with the Conservatives when you look at what has happened to the National Debt since they have been in power, let alone all the evidence of corruption on their part that has come out during the campaign and their dreadful history in relation to the most vulnerable members of the population.

@comefromaway the theory is that people will get the same amount done in a bit less time, and be happier, healthier, and ultimately more productive for having an extra day off work. This has been trialled in a few places and seems positive, but I think would be more applicable to office jobs and less so to retail etc, just due to the nature of the roles.

It wouldn't work in our business. I work for a gas/heating firm. Jobs are priced based on an hourly rate or customers call us out to attend to breakdowns and servicing. You can't do the work in less hours.

Comefromaway - are your employees salaried or hourly ?

IT contractor (limited company so a large proportion of what I am paid comes as dividends). Voted labour. I am happy to pay more tax if it’s going to be used to pay for public services and to make the country les unequal.

Myself and other office staff are salaried. Site staff are hourly with a guaranteed 38.5 hours per week.

Small business owner. Conservative voter.
I pay enough tax already and I employ people so also pay NI, pension contributions etc. I have no desire to increase what I pay through dividend tax and corporation tax.

when you consider I will be getting less hours out of my staff I'm really getting hit twice

I'm not sure. If you have less time to do the work it makes you more efficient. We're massively underproductive in the UK. If we spent fewer hours at work, but got on with it, we may well do better.

Part-time workers tend to be more productive.

So you'd pay the same and possibly get a bit more work done.

Anyway I don't see the 30 hour week happening any time soon even with a Labour majority.

How can a company pay people the same amount of money to work 32 hours as they are currently paying them to work 35 hours (or 38.5 in our case). I just don't see how this can be.

Businesses would need to look at their working processes and see if there can be any improvements in productivity, or reductions in unnecessary work. E.g. would investing in a new machine/computer programme/design etc result in time and cost savings? This would clearly be more difficult in an environment such as a shop, but does the shop really need to open a 9.00 every day or could it open at 10.00 instead without impacting on turnover and profits? In an office, do the office layout and hierarchy and the procedures enable the employees to work at their most efficient, or could working smarter rather than harder, and the incentive of finishing at lunchtime on a Friday, magically improve productivity?

I've run a small business up to about three years ago and it was ludicrous how little I was taxed. I had to manually throw money at charities for my conscience's sake - which also offsets tax meaning less money for public services. Fucking "I'm alright jack" conservative tax policies need to die in a fire.

I'm with PPs Laurie and Bucking.

Was employed in the public sector for many years, then started my own business 5 years ago. I've voted Labour this morning. To be honest, I can't believe how little tax I've been expected to pay whilst running a business. Nowhere near what I paid in public sector. So I'm ok with dividend tax increasing to bring what I contribute more in line with any employee.

I really am small, though. The company has 8 employees, only 1 full time (but that's still only 25hours a week as that's all we open for). So I've never had to pay NI for any employees either. I've never gone over the allowance.

Since the choice (in England at least) is binary - Conservative or Labour - then the discussion also needs to look at the Conservative proposals.

According to Raab, Truss, Patel and the Britannia Unchained manifesto, British workers are lazy and cannot compete with workers in the developing countries. When Johnson talks about being free from EU rules, he's talking about removing employee protection, removing the minimum wage, reducing health and safety requirements, reducing holiday allowances etc. This will not help employees - but it won't help small business owners either. Big, faceless corporations might approve, but this thread is about small businesses who actually account for the vast majority of jobs in the UK private sector. As a business owner I would be faced with having to reduce the wages of my employees in order to compete with larger employers (or because larger companies that small businesses supply would demand lower prices) as they strive to match sweatshop wages being paid elsewhere. While the big companies, their shareholders and directors can hide behind HR departments and company handbooks, I would have to look my employees in the eye and tell them that their wages are being cut. I am not prepared to do this because it would cause resentment amongst the staff, which would in turn mean that they would leave or not be as productive or as attentive to customers - a downward spiral that would ultimately kill my business and many others.

Raab, Truss, Kwateng, Patel, Javid and Gove have never run as much as a whelk stall - they are journalists, lobbyists, lawyers. Johnson's view of businesses that don't support his vision is well-known - F**k business. So I can't see any reason to vote for the Conservatives in their current ultra-right manifestation.

Forbes September 2019:

'Why Small Businesses Should Not Fear Jeremy Corbyn'

www.forbes.com/sites/davidprosser/2019/09/27/why-small-businesses-should-not-fear-jeremy-corbyn/#122d4b5422f9

'Labour unveils 20 pledges to support small businesses'

labourlist.org/2019/12/labour-unveils-20-pledges-to-support-small-businesses/

I own two small businesses and I honestly HATE both Tory and labour governments got what they will do to me! And one of them is going to win! 😭

ToffeePennie - what exactly will they “do to you”
I mean will you be homeless, using a good bank, please explain

But mps won't take home the £79k, they would be taxed on that pay, they would pay £19k in income tax and £5.5k in NI.

So take home is £55k.

@StarUtopia I can’t understand why anyone in their right mind would vote conservative!

Corporation tax is only on profit - most small business owners pay themselves a wage, which will not be affected by the corporation tax hike. It will affect the profit they can plough back into the business, but should not affect their ability to live.
I'm more worried about Brexit personally.

Not sure if it’s been mentioned but labour have said there will be help for small businesses so they don’t have to pay much more

I know it’s too late now

We run a small business. We voted Labour. It’s not all about us.