Over the past few weeks, a plethora of business groups have all urged the Chancellor to reconsider April’s planned hike in National Insurance contributions.

The government’s plans will see employees, employers and the self-employed all pay 1.25 percentage points more from 6 April 2022. In a united front, the Prime Minister and Chancellor jointly penned an article published on 30 January in the Sunday Times insisting this was “the right plan” and that the increase “must go ahead.”

Business groups, however, have also been united in condemnation. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the rise will place a further squeeze on budgets and risks stunting economic growth, while the Institute of Directors urged the Chancellor to rethink the plan which it dubbed a ‘jobs tax.’

The FSB has also stated its strong opposition saying the ‘regressive tax hike’ could ‘spell the end for a lot of small firms’, while the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) recently called for the increase to be postponed for at least a year. The BCC also warned that firms are facing a ‘cost-of-doing-business crisis’ and called on the Chancellor to implement further measures to support the business sector.