UK manufacturers need a “major MOT” of the system of corporate taxes and regulations.

A report claims there are numerous factors that render businesses uncompetitive, and minister Jeremy Hunt is asked to implement reforms.

Manufacturers in the UK are pleading with Jeremy Hunt, chancellor, to make a “major MOT” announcement in his fall statement next month regarding the “uncompetitive” corporate tax and regulatory regime in the UK.

In a report released in the midst of the political organization’s conference season, the industry group Create UK said that many components of the structure are “not fit for purpose” and advocated for significant reform as a component of an industrial policy.

Rishi Sunak made no mention of company tax and regulation in his address at the Conservative Party’s conference last week in Manchester. But according to a survey conducted by Make UK and tax consulting firm RSM, nearly half of UK businesses (44%) think the tax and regulatory structure is unfavorable.

Only 8% of the 150 businesses surveyed between July 26 and August 19 claimed that the tax and regulatory system had no influence on their investment choices.

Manufacturers claimed that recent changes to corporate incentives and credits for R&D had made it more difficult for them to plan their investments. Make UK is pleading with the chancellor to refrain from making more than one yearly fiscal statement going forward.

Over two-thirds of businesses claimed that an industrial strategy would result in increased spending on decarbonization, development and research, and skills.
Measures like business rates, R&D tax credits, the trainee levy, corporate tax rates, and capital allowances would be examined as part of competitiveness reforms to see if they support increased investment, innovation, and the economy’s net zero.

“Manufacturers are clear that numerous components of the present tax and regulatory framework are not fit for purposes and are failing to promote crucial investment in skills, capital, and green growth,” said Fhaheen Khan, the chief economist at Make UK. We have several fiscal statements each year, which makes it difficult for enterprises to plan their investment strategies.

If we want to shock the economy out of its current slumber and encourage long-term growth, we can’t keep up with the present flip-flopping and policy inconsistency. In order to turn the existing unfavorable regime into one that works for business rather than against it, government must conduct an urgent MOT of it.

More over half of businesses (55%) think the current full expensing policy, which was implemented in March alongside an array of tax cuts intended to boost corporate expansion, should be maintained permanent. This entitles enterprises who invest in IT technology and equipment to write off the cost against their profits tax, allowing them to deduct as much as 100 percent of the investment’s cost.