As up to 6,800 self-employed people living and working in south Bristol look set to face an unexpected tax rise from April 2018, MP Karin Smyth said:
“Bristol South has hardly any large employers, but lots of small and medium sized enterprises and a great many self-employed people. Self-employment plays a vital part in our local economy.
“Today’s small and medium sized businesses began with enterprising people putting themselves out there, taking a risk, and having a go – working dawn to dusk and beyond to make it work.
“As they grow, small businesses create local jobs for local people and so these tax hikes threaten the enterprise that is vital to prosperity in constituencies like mine.
“I also know that many people have chosen the self-employment route because it enables them to better balance work and family life.
“It’s clear the government thought further taxing self-employed people would provide a trouble-free revenue-raising measure. But the widespread opposition to these tax changes have taken Ministers by surprise and they need a rethink.”