Deane reports taxation is creating a burden of red tape that is holding back the self-employed.
Admitting the issue of taxation was outside the remit of her review Deane said action was needed to simplify the system. ‘Taxation was repeatedly raised by all of those interviewed,’ she said. ‘Given the scale of concern I recommend that Government looks at this in more detail.’
Her report goes on to call for the maternity allowance paid to the self-employed to be extended to match statutory maternity pay and the introduction of an allowance to help the self-employed adopt children on the same terms as the employed.
Dr Adam Marshall, Executive Director of Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, welcomed the report. ‘Julie Deane is right: it’s time to sweep away the barriers that stop people from working for themselves.’
The challenge of getting a mortgage was identified by the report as a particular problem in the last five years, mainly as a result of rules brought in after the financial crisis, which banned self-certified mortgages in which people did not have to provide payslips to prove their income.
The requirement for proof of income was a particular obstacle, Deane said: ‘That’s causing problems because banks are still offering the same sorts of mortgages. They’re asking for the same kind of financial history and they’re looking at things as if they haven’t changed.’
However self-certified mortgages are once again becoming available in the UK from companies operating offshore.
Reports of huge demand for such products prompted the Financial Conduct Authority to issue a warning to borrowers two weeks ago that such mortgages were not regulated and came with none of the protections of the UK complaints system.
