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Posted: Tue 13th Oct 2026
8 min read
From a £15,000 tax-free allowance to cheaper young staff, here’s what Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Conservatives would do for small firms.
Two opposition parties would let you earn £15,000 before you pay any income tax. Every one of them wants to cut what you pay to employ staff.
Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats, the Greens and the Conservatives used their autumn conferences to compete for the small business vote. We’ve been through every speech and policy paper to pull out what matters for your business.
None of these parties is in government, so nothing here is law.
The ideas will still shape the debate ahead of the Budget on 28 October. You can read our coverage of Labour’s conference separately.
Sole traders have most to gain here, because their profits are taxed as income.
Reform’s Robert Jenrick wants a £15,000 personal allowance in Reform’s first Budget, up from £12,570. The Lib Dems would reach £15,000 by year five of a government and raise the National Insurance (NI) threshold to match.
Reform would also lift the VAT threshold from £90,000 to £150,000. The party says 320,000 small businesses would benefit, and its Planning Teal Paper confirms the pledge as policy.
The Conservatives would review Making Tax Digital and IR35, and simplify tax for the self-employed. Robert suggested firms could choose to pay tax once a year. The Chartered Institute of Taxation notes that the scheme requires quarterly updates, with no change to when tax is paid.
Family business owners may welcome the Conservative pledge to scrap the inheritance tax changes on family firms. Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith also wants to abolish at least one tax in every Budget.
Every opposition party now wants to cut employer National Insurance. The detail decides whether a business with one or two staff gains anything.
Greens: The party would double the Employment Allowance, taking up to £10,500 more off a small firm’s bill. A 38% windfall tax on big banks would pay for it.
Conservatives: The party would halve employer National Insurance for staff aged 21 to 24, from 15% to 7.5%. It estimates an average saving of £1,545 per young worker.
Reform UK: The party would cut the employer rate back towards 13.8% for British workers.
Lib Dems: The party would bring back a lower rate for part-time staff, including young people.
Reform and the Conservatives would both repeal the Employment Rights Act.
Kemi Badenoch promised to scrap every ‘job-killing measure’ in it. She also set out a ‘Get to Work’ scheme to place school and university leavers straight into jobs.
The Lib Dems’ business motion asks government to count the cash flow cost of employment rules for small firms. It also calls for a review of support for small employers when a member of staff is off long term.
Three of the four parties want to change business rates.
Reform is consulting on its plans in the Planning Teal Paper. It wants to take over 90% of high street businesses out of rates altogether and bring in free town-centre parking.
The paper asks where the new threshold should sit, and whether town-centre shops, cafes and leisure firms should get a different one.
The paper also asks whether online sellers and out-of-town warehouses should pay more. Richard Tice floated an online delivery tax of 1.5% or 2% to fund the high street.
The Conservatives would cut business rates for 250,000 pubs, shops and high street businesses.
The Lib Dems would replace business rates with a levy on commercial landowners, so tenants would no longer pay.
The Greens made no pledge on business rates. Their cap on rent rises covers homes only.
If you sell packaged goods, the Conservatives would scrap the packaging levy, known as extended producer responsibility. The party puts the cost to business at £1.5 billion, while retailers put it at £3 billion.
Check before you count the savings, because most micro businesses already sit outside the scheme.
Government guidance only covers firms with turnover over £1 million that handle more than 25 tonnes of packaging a year. Firms classed as small producers pay no waste disposal fees.
The Conservatives would also abolish the Environment Agency and Natural England and replace developer contributions with a single charge.
Kemi called for planning and tax red tape to be axed and a third runway at Heathrow.
The Greens want a publicly owned bank and a network of local community banks lending to small firms.
The Lib Dems would raise the SEIS and Venture Capital Trust limits and extend full expensing to software and intellectual property.
They would also let firms check R&D tax claims before filing. Reform would let relatives invest through SEIS.
The Lib Dems would set up a Department for Growth in Birmingham, with a single account manager for each business.
Daisy Cooper’s growth plan adds a digital one-stop shop for tax, regulation, legal and Companies House services. Party members also backed more British tech firms winning public contracts.
Our test for any pledge is whether it saves money or time for a business with fewer than 10 staff.
Doubling the Employment Allowance, raising the VAT threshold, opening the Energy Ombudsman to small firms and cutting the cost of young staff would all pass.
Many of the biggest promises still lack a clear way to pay for them. We will press every party for the details and make sure our members’ experience shapes it.
Daniel Woolf, head of policy at Enterprise Nation, said:
"Founders want ideas that leave more money in the business and free up their time. We heard some good ones this conference season, from every party.
"Now we need the detail. A pledge only helps a small business if it is costed and simple to use.
"We will keep taking what our members tell us to every party, so the next government starts with a plan that works for small firms."
The Chancellor delivers the Budget on 28 October. It will show which of these ideas, if any, the government adopts, and we will cover what it means for your business.
Image credit: (L-R) Olukemi Badenoch ©House of Commons/Roger Harris, Edward Davey ©House of Commons, Zack_Polanski, Bristol Green Party, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons) and Robert Jenrick ©House of Commons/Roger Harris
