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The Chancellor has announced in the Budget that he will provide self-employed working tax credit claimants with access to business support, and the mentoring currently offered under the existing New Enterprise Allowance scheme will be extended to self-employed universal credit claimants.
The Budget also sets out the Government’s intention to trial face to face support, provided by Jobcentre advisors in the Department for Work and Pensions, for self-employed working tax credit claimants.
In addition, a new dedicated HMRC helpline will be opened to help new businesses, and other HMRC phone lines will be funded to stay open seven days a week.
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“We particularly welcome the announcement of a dedicated helpline for new businesses as we recommended this to the Office for Tax Simplification.[1] We wait to see if the investment in HMRC call centres results in shorter waiting times for businesses trying to understand their tax position and responsibilities.
“Nevertheless, low income self-employed workers will face difficulties with the introduction of universal credit, especially as the minimum income floor will result in many being treated as earning the national living wage for a 35 hour working week, even if their business is still building up or they have hit a bad period. If the system is to support low income self-employed workers as they properly establish their businesses and make use of these new services, changes are needed to the current rules so that they acknowledge the reality of running a small business.”
b>Budget information
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Susie Hughes © Shout99 2016
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