Higher corporation tax levels in the UK are forcing multinational firms to relocate elsewhere, according to the CBI.
In a speech to the national media on his one hundredth day as director-general of the CBI, Richard Lambert lambasted the government for the high levels of corporation tax in the UK compared with our European neighbours.
He argued that the 30% tax compared particularly unfavourably with the 12.5% rate in the Republic of Ireland and meant that companies either had to generate more cash outside the UK or corporation tax would need to come down.
HM Revenue & Customs was accused of making the problem worse by aggressively chasing business taxes.
Lambert said: “A trickle of companies are relocating and our anxiety is that it does not turn into a flood.
“Compared to the rest of Europe the burden of taxation is rising in the UK at the same time as tax collection has become noticeably more aggressive.”
