Given most polls currently predict coalition Governments of a variety of shapes and sizes, most of these policies could be bargaining tools in the not too distant future.
The main policies affecting freelancers and small businesses are:
Conservatives
- No rise in VAT, national insurance contributions or income tax
- A crackdown on tax evasion and the 'aggressive' avoidance of tax
- Spend £100bn on infrastructure in the next Parliament
- Achieve full employment by helping businesses create two million extra jobs over the course of the next Parliament
- Create 3 million new apprenticeships
- Cut £10bn of red tape over the next Parliament
- Give businesses 'the most competitive taxes of any major economy'
- Replace Jobseeker's Allowance for 18-21 year-olds with a Youth Allowance time-limited to six months. after which, they will have to take an apprenticeship or traineeship or do community work to claim benefits
- Increase the minimum wage to £6.70 by the autumn and to £8 by the end of the decade
- Invest £6.9bn in the UK's research infrastructure up to 2021
- Improved 'near superfast' broadband for rural areas
- Take everyone earning less than £12,500 out of income tax
- Those working 30 hours a week and earning the minimum wage will not pay income tax on earnings
- Raise the threshold for the 40p rate of tax to £50,000
- Cap skilled migration from outside the EU at 20,700
- Aim for annual net migration in the tens of thousands and reduce the incentive for EU migrants to settle in the UK
- Give those who work for large companies and the public sector an entitlement to Volunteering Leave for three days per year
Labour
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- Raising the minimum wage to more than £8 by October 2019
- No increase to the basic or higher rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT.
- Bring back the 50p top income tax rate for those earning over £150,000
- End the non-dom rule that allows some wealthy UK residents to limit the tax they pay on earnings outside the country
- Cut and then freeze business rates
- Guarantee an apprenticeship for all school leavers who attain certain grades
- Require any firm that is awarded a large Government contract to offer apprenticeships
- Create a "gold-standard technical baccalaureate" for 16 to-18-year olds
- Double paternity leave to four weeks, with paternity pay increased by more than £100 a week
- Introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee, which will 'provide a paid starter job for every young person unemployed for over a year'
- Ban MPs from holding paid directorships and consultancies
LibDems
- Increasing the personal tax-free allowance to £12,500
- Create a fair plan to reduce the deficit by ensuring the rich pay 'their fair share' and corporations are unable to avoid 'tax responsibilities'
- Create new fiscal rules to balance the budget, but also allow for productive investment
- Double spending on innovation in the economy
- Allow high-skill immigration to support key sectors of the economy
- Grow a competitive banking sector, supporting "alternative finance providers "
- Prioritise small and medium-sized enterprises for any business tax cuts
- Push for a Land Value Tax to replace business rates
- Raise the Personal Allowance to at least £12,500 by the end of the next Parliament
- Take 'tough' action against corporate tax evasion and avoidance
- Remove a number of distortions, loopholes and excess reliefs from the tax system
- Pay a living wage set by an independent review to workers in all central government departments and their agencies from April 2016
- Consult on allowing employees on zero-hours contracts to request a fixed contract
- Double the numbers of businesses hiring apprentices
- Roll out high-speed broadband to reach 99.9 per cent of households
- Extend Freedom of Information laws to cover private companies delivering public services.
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2015
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