Tories vow to ease IR35 rules and cut red tape for small businesses
Identification checks for small businesses would be eased under a new Tory pledge to slash red tape and allow entrepreneurs to open bank accounts at a quicker pace.
Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, will tell party members that the Tories would make growth among small businesses central to wider economic plans as they would take greater control over interactions with the state.
He will vow to increase the number of ways small business owners can prove their identity and ease checks on addresses.
The Tories believe the changes would allow entrepreneurs at low-risk companies to open bank accounts in fewer than two days.
Business owners would also gain powers to rate interactions with HMRC to improve the taxman’s accountability to the public.
The Tories are also set to look over IR35 – tax rules for the self-employed that seek to close loopholes for limited companies – with the intention of allowing self-employed people to “work flexibly and grow their businesses”.
Griffith is expected to tell party members: “We want to reignite a culture of entrepreneurship in Britain. To support and to celebrate those who take a risk. To create a new generation of entrepreneurs.
“We are on the side of the pub landlord, the restaurateur, the small business owner and family businesses.
“The Conservative Party is the party of business. Those that make, not those that take.”
Small businesses become key focus for Tories
Several prospective entrepreneurs have argued that opening bank accounts is one of the biggest obstacles to launching a business.
Small business owners verify their identities through government portals and are a legal requirement for all directors.
In another policy proposal targeted at young people, Griffith will also say that new young enterprise schemes involving advice from experienced business leaders would be rolled out across schools and colleges.
Tory officials believe the scheme would encourage young people to see starting a business as a viable career option.
It represents another Tory policy targeted at young people after Mel Stride told members the Tories would offer young people getting their first job a £5,000 national insurance rebate.
The cash received back by new hires would be used for young people to get on the property ladder or to get into the habit of saving more money.
In his speech on Monday, Stride said: “I want to go further, to send an unequivocal message to those young people starting out in life: If you work hard and do the right thing the Conservative Party is on your side.”
In response to Stride’s proposal, Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown said the idea risked leaving young people “worse off” depending on how cash would be channelled into savings account.
“If you’re working overtime to free up cash towards your first home, you’re not going to turn down free money from the government. But the devil will be in the detail, so at the moment, this notion raises more questions than answers.”