Mr Angus MacDonald

Mr Angus MacDonald

Liberal Democrat — Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire

Speaking in the House of Commons on 18 June 2025

Debate

Businesses in Rural Areas

Contribution

I want to make the case for a review of the VAT system. VAT starts at £90,000 and above, and I think that that level should be increased to £250,000. The UK has 3.1 million sole traders. Many of them do not want to grow above £90,000 because they do not think they are in the business of administration, and quite a lot do cash business in March just to get past that. If we lift the limit to £250,000, many of them would employ an apprentice or two. Some might become quite major. We would enable a junior level of people who were not particularly good at school to join the trades sector, in plumbing, for example. This is a fantastic opportunity if we want to take the foot off the neck of micro-businesses and would allow us to grow a worthwhile SME sector.

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