We would like the government to allow full tax relief for training costs for people starting a new business or expanding into new areas of business that are not directly related to what they currently do.

I recently set up a new business and incurred significant training costs. I was shocked to discover that there is no tax relief for training to enable new business setup or for business expansion. We feel that training costs, especially for businesses requiring qualifications, can be a significant barrier to entry for potential entrepreneurs and that self-employed people and small businesses already have a disproportionate tax burden. We believe that successful economies support growth of new and small businesses.