Red Tape Statistics in Small Business

Business Start Up

by BizHelp24
19/10/2005

So, What if Your Self Employed? If you are self-employed, legislation is more favourable to you than it would be if you were a limited company. Visit our article on the difference between a sole-trader and a Limited Company for a more detailed coverage. Being self-employed still requires you to buy a weekly National Insurance stamp but preparing tax forms has been made easier since the introduction of the Self-assessment procedure. It is therefore important for all those self-employed that you keep receipts and invoices to reflect the figures that you have stated on your tax forms.

You can still off-set expenses against income and accountants are keen to take on such tasks for a few hundred pounds per year.

See table Below

Statistics: The Cost of Red Tape

Measure	Introduced	TOTAL Cost £ by May 02
Data Protection Directive	1998	3.1bn
Working Time Directive	1998	7.65bn
National Minimum Wage	1999	674.5m
Time off for Studying/Training	1999	273m
Fire-precaution Regulations	1999	50m
European Works Council	1999	43m
Ordinary Maternity Leave	1999	7.4m
Additional Maternity Leave	1999	50m
Parental Leave	1999	62.2m
Extended to Births before Dec 99	2001	22.5m
Time off for Family/Domestic Problems	2000	20m
Trade Union Recognition	2000	7.8m
Disputes or Grievance	2000	4.5m
Part Time Workers Directive	2000	306m
Working Families Tax Credit	2000	262.8m
Student Loan Repayment	2000	255.8m
IR 35	2000	523.5m
Reg. of Investigatory Power Acts I & 2	2000	40m
Disability Discrimination	2000	364m
EU Pollution Directive 98/69/EC	2001	1.6bn
Stakeholder Pensions & Welfare Reform	2001	314m
TOTAL:		15.06bn

Source: British Chambers of Commerce

Relevant Articles

Business Failure: Causes of business failure
VAT: How to register, completing VAT forms, and more…
National Insurance: Working out the contributions and general information
Abbreviated Accounts: What they contain
Tax Credits: Figures for tax credits
Stakeholder Pensions: What they are and who should provide them
Limited Company or Sole Trader?: The differences
Self-assessment: What they are and how to complete them
PAYE: The basics explained
Income Tax : Current rates

Article Index

1. Introduction

2. Red Tape For The Self-employed