ALMOST 40% of North East business people believe a flat rate of tax would be the best way of simplifying the UK taxation system.

A poll conducted on behalf of Hartlepool chartered accountants and business advisers Waltons Clark Whitehill also found that around a third of the respondents thought the system should remain as it is.

The survey was circulated among 3,900 business people in the region, giving four options for changing the UK tax system and the option to leave it as it is, in an effort to gauge opinion from the business community.

George Hardey, tax expert at Waltons Clark Whitehill, said: “Many people feel our tax system too complex, with diverse rates and deadlines to contend with. There has been talk recently of the potential for a flat rate so that everyone, no matter what their income, pays the same percentage, and it was interesting to see that such a large percentage of respondents feel that is the best of the options which were open to them.

“A significant percentage of people who took part also took a very pragmatic approach and felt that this is what we have and we must deal with it. It wasn’t really a surprise that fewest people felt moving the deadlines forward was a good move, because it is often the case that people want to put such things off.

“However, I was surprised that so few felt that uniformity in National Insurance rates was a preferred choice. The difference between rates paid by employed people, and those for the self-employed, creates an imbalance which could be removed.”