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The Forum for Private Business (FPB) - an interest group representing Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) - has voiced outrage over the recent announcement that a majority of big companies pay little or no corporation tax.
FPV campaigns manager Matt Hardman said that big business had the resources and expertise to employ complex tax mitigation strategies, giving them an unfair advantage over smaller firms.
"In his last Budget, Gordon Brown increased corporation tax for smaller businesses," Mr Hardman noted. "Now we learn that almost a third of big companies paid no corporation tax in the 2005–06 financial year and a further 30 per cent paid less than £10m each.
"Our members will be outraged by this news. They feel that they are being made to pay more into the tax system because they do not have the capacity of large companies to dramatically reduce their tax burdens."
In a recent poll of its members FPB found that 42 per cent wanted the chancellor to focus on tax planning for SMEs and 91 per cent felt they would benefit from a reduction in National Insurance contributions.
About 99 per cent of companies are classified as small businesses - employing under 50 people - and SMEs account for nearly 60 per cent of employment in the UK.
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