SME News March 2017

16 SME NEWS / March 2017 , The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) this month released a list of 37 challenges facing the self-employed. 37 Problems and Tax Is One These include no sick pay, no employer pension contributions, inferior maternity pay and pensions and putting their homes and family’s livelihoods on the line to build their businesses. FSB National Chairman Mike Cherry said: “While setting yourself up in business can be incredibly rewarding and exciting, there are many risks and the government provides few safety nets. The risk that the self-employed face makes them fundamentally different to employees. Therefore, the proposed National Insurance tax grab on this group is an absolute kick in the teeth, just at a time when we need to create more entrepreneurs, not fewer. “We called on the government to think again and there is at least now a delay to allow Ministers a rethink. They must come to their senses. Each item on this list shows just how different life is like for the UK’s 4.8 million self-employed. The government should be spending its time focusing on issues like these rather than picking the pockets of the UK’s hard-working strivers.” Problems facing the self- employed include: • Insecurity/volatility of income; • Poor access to mortgages; • Having to risk their houses and personal income to build their business; • No redundancy pay; • No access to pensions auto- enrolment; • No employer pension contributions; • No maternity pay; • No paternity pay; • No adoption pay; • No rights against unfair dismissal; • No holiday pay; • No right to notice; • No sick pay; • No compassionate leave; • No carers leave; • No comparable employment protections in relation to discrimination; • Poor broadband for homeworkers; • Poor design of universal credit for changing incomes; • Late payment from large businesses; • Unfair contract terms from big business; • Complicated regulation designed for big business; • Poor access to training; • Poor access to business support; • No government savings products designed for the self-employed; • Complicated upcoming quarterly tax reporting; • Complicated reporting requirements for universal credit; • Isolation of self-employed workers; • Hard to access business credit; • Poor protection from business crime; • Poor protection from cybercrime; • Poor access to the courts to settle legal disputes; • Poor access to legal advice; • No limited liability protection for the self-employed; • No access to enhanced employer benefits, like income protection insurance; • No free eye tests from employers; • Personal responsibility for legal liabilities and; • High cost of tax administration. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk