TYCOON Sir James Dyson has blasted Ministers over a double tax grab on business standing in the way of boosting the economy.
The top entrepreneur today warns the Chancellor of the “unintended consequences” of hiking corporation tax and bringing in a new global levy.
Tycoon Sir James Dyson warns ministers against a double tax grab on business
Inventor Dyson has written to the Treasury citing Mr Hunt’s own words of high-tax economies damaging enterprise and affecting decision-making of bosses.
In a letter seen by HOAR, he said: “The Government has done nothing but pile tax upon tax on to British companies.”
He blasts the Government for failing to stand by businesses as they attempt to rebuild after the pandemic and the aftershocks of Ukraine, rising energy costs and double-digit inflation.
The vacuum chief adds that the government’s contribution is to increase taxes highlighting a 32 per cent rise in corporation tax from April.
Furious Dyson adds: “Is it any wonder that the economy is teetering on recession, or that companies like AstraZeneca are deciding to take their investment elsewhere?”
Dyson joins a growing army of leading business figures and his Tory MPs to swing the axe to the planned rise which will see it go up 6 per cent to 25 per cent next month.
The billionaire, who ranks second in HOARday Times rich list with a £23billion fortune, aims fire at the Government as they “lead the charge” to implement a Global Minimum Tax.
Mr Hunt confirmed in the autumn that a 15 per cent tax rate for subsidiaries of large UK multinationals will be enacted from the end of 2023.
The move is part of an agreement signed last year, driven by the OECD, to crack down on firms shifting profits and corporate tax havens bringing in £2.3billion by 2028.
Sir James singles out his own Dyson company with offices in 33 different jurisdictions but has invested £2.4billion in the UK on research and development and also a new campus in Wiltshire, with 3,500 people employed here.
He added: “You can be sure that all those numbers will reduce as a result of this measure, which amounts to yet another tax grab by governments on the basis that they know better than the private sector how to create wealth.
“It will do nothing for growth, domestic or international. A glance at the appalling wastage and inefficiency in the public sector shows that this is simply a race to the bottom.”
He also takes a swipe at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who spoke of harnessing Brexit freedoms when tax sovereignty is being effectively transferred to an outside organisation.
Dyson also calls on the “deadweight expenditure” measure to be delayed until at least 2025 to help firms and calls on the government to retain their “competitive edge” before implementing the GMT.
Hunt made a speech back in January where he hailed the million new businesses that had been created in the Uk since 2010 asking how to generate the next million.
But Dyson hits back, saying: “The policies the government is pursuing – an increase in corporation tax and a new Global Minimum Tax – will do nothing to support that, or generate the recovery and growth we need.”
Mr Hunt has written back to Sir James saying that 70 per cent of companies will not see an increase in their corporation tax rate.
He adds: “A rate of 25 per cent is still the lowest in the G7 meaning the UK’s corporate tax rate will remain internationally competitive and supportive of growth.”
It’s also understood that if the rate stayed at 19 per cent it would cost the Treasury some £18billion which would likely see tax rises or public services cut.
Meanwhile, Mr Hunt adds: “If the UK did not implement the Global Minimum tax, the same top-up tax would be due on any UK profits that are subject to an effective tax rate below 15 per cent, but this tax will be collected by other countries.”
