NIC holiday underway

Date: 7th September 2010

New small businesses across most of the UK can now benefit from a new National Insurance contribution (NIC) holiday, it has been announced.

As outlined in the emergency Budget, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a new regional initiative, which exempts businesses from paying NICs.

The scheme is available only to businesses outside of London and the south-east of England and sees firms benefit from a "holiday" worth up to £5,000 for the first ten employees they hire.

Potentially, business making full use of the holiday could save £50,000 in their first year of operating.

David Gauke, exchequer secretary to the Treasury, said: "We need to rebalance our economy which has become over reliant on public spending and jobs provided by the public sector.

"The NICs holiday for new businesses in addition to cuts in corporation tax will provide a valuable boost to start up businesses and help foster the private sector led recovery that will drive growth in the UK over the coming years."

Posted by Thomas Fletcher