UK tax system becoming more competitive

Competitiveness in the UK tax system has improved the most of all major economies in the last couple of years, new analysis has suggested.The study from KPMG assessed the business taxes in 14 major countries, looking at taxes including corporate income tax, capital taxes, sales taxes, property taxes and statutory labour costs – these were added together to find the overall tax cost. This cost was then compared across other countries using a Total Tax Index – “a measure of the total taxes paid by a business in a particular location, expressed as a percentage of total taxes paid by corporations in the US.”The comparison revealed that the UK had improved the most in terms of tax competitiveness, rising to sixth place and decreasing its Total Tax Index from 88 to 73.3 – 15 percentage points. The UK also came out on top amongst European nations. The analysis also revealed that in terms of tax, Manchester is now a more attractive place to do business than London, mainly stemming from lower employment and property costs bringing tax bills down.KPMG's UK head of tax policy Chris Morgan, said, "This is good news for UK plc and an endorsement of the government's tax policy. The significant change for the better is partly due to reductions in the corporate income tax rate here in the UK [which has reduced 2 per cent since 2010]. It is also due to lower industrial property values in 2012 which have resulted in a reduced burden for other corporate taxes."

http://www.50percenttax.co.uk/index/2012/10/2/uk-tax-system-becoming-more-competitive.html