Captain Haddock wrote:First is the myth that it is desirable to encourage self-employment indiscriminately through the tax system. The “self-employed” range from the low paid to the higher paid who benefit considerably from current tax incentives. Untargeted, general tax reliefs cannot be calibrated to reflect all these situations.
Reduced national insurance contributions from the self-employed cannot be justified by reference to differences in other state-funded benefits. If the government wishes to encourage entrepreneurship through the tax system, a uniform and stable tax rate across different forms of work, with incentives focused on investment and employing others, seem a better way to go.
No.
Are you/they conflating Entrepreneurship with Self-Employment? If you are a self-employed one-man-band, who pays your sick-pay?
Some FACTs...
In 2010, the self-employed (sole trader if you prefer) 3.949 million souls.
As of March 2016 4.695 million souls.
That trend is surely a FACTor in the Chancellor's decisions to break a manifesto pledge.
Source: Office of National Statistics
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/trendsinselfemploymentintheuk/2001to2015