Rebel Accountant says Budget signals matter to UK entrepreneurs

In a broadcast interview ahead of the Budget, the Rebel Accountant, a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser with 27 years in practice, set out why he thinks tax reliefs are limited for most small firms and why some entrepreneurs are considering leaving the UK.

He said the Rebel Accountant name comes from rapping and does not signal creative accounting or tax evasion. He described himself as a reluctant accountant who joined a family business started by his grandfather, but said he has spent 27 years in tax.

On tax reliefs, he said there is no magic wand for most people. He pointed to more than a million pages of tax legislation and said small businesses have limited options. Where available, he said they should use reliefs such as pensions and R&D relief, and keep their numbers organised to avoid unnecessary professional fees. He added that wealthy people who are globally mobile can use international structures, but a UK resident with a long-term home in Britain has little room to manoeuvre.

He linked the debate about entrepreneurs leaving the country to frustration and signals. He said most entrepreneurs he knows are frustrated, and argued that how they are made to feel matters. He gave an anecdote about a client who, after a Labour manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people, concluded that he was no longer a working person because he was a higher earner. The client had been thinking about leaving since then, he said.

He described entrepreneurism as an extreme sport and said entrepreneurs take real risks, sometimes remortgaging their homes or putting their life savings into a venture. Some fail repeatedly before succeeding, he said, and he argued that earlier governments wanted such people to succeed.

Turning to the Budget, he said signalling is more important than ministers may realise. He noted that income tax, national insurance and VAT had been ruled out, and he welcomed the prospect that capital gains tax would not rise. He suggested the government could restore entrepreneurs relief to show it is listening to entrepreneurs.

Asked where in Europe a business should open, he said the UK remains an excellent place to do business because of its legal rules, culture and rule of law. He said the list of alternatives is short, that Dubai is now mixed, and that Ireland is not bad because employment law changes may give it an advantage. He still described the UK as an amazing place to do business.

He also discussed his rapping, including a song called '99 Problems, but tax ain't one', which he said is about the debate over wealth and the definition of rich.