A few weeks ago the loosely-held-together gelatinous blob the UK currently calls a government announced it was expanding the New Enterprise Allowance scheme to offer it to up to 40,000 new businesses. If you remember (and why wouldn’t you?) the NEA is a £2,000 grant bestowed upon new small businesses by the Government if said business meets certain criteria.
Designed to encourage more unemployed people to start their own businesses, the NEA was originally earmarked to give out 20,000 grants, however the powers that be recently doubled that number to 40,000.
Now the UK200Group, an equally gelatinous industry body representing Accountants and Lawyers (bet their parties are a hoot) has branded the NEA scheme a sham. One member calling it “Harebrained”. Another labelled it a “New Years Fantasy” before retrieving his monocle, which had flown from his face in surprise following the NEA announcement.
“[The NEA comes] at the same time that HM Revenue and Customs has announced it is to target 50,000 businesses a year over the next three years to see whether their accounting records are adequate or accurate. The estimate from HMRC is that they are going to raise millions in penalties from those businesses, so on the one hand the government is offering to help businesses and on the other they are looking to punish them.”
It’s certainly interesting that the UK200Group are choosing to complain about a Government accounting crackdown – an event that could likely make them a tidy amount of money (they are Accountants, after all). We’d also submit that, if a company’s books aren’t in order, the punishment is perfectly just.
For the UK’s many unemployed entrepreneurs, the NEA could provide a welcome boost in startup cash. Neither the Government nor the UK200Group have produced any figures to back up their standpoints, so I guess we’re just going to have to suck it and see.
Are you applying for an NEA? Email us and let us know how it goes – editor@freelanceadvisor.co.uk
Photo by David Goehring – CC
