Jimmy Hayns

Ten years ago, a small business owner taking a £100k dividend could pay as little as £2,500 in personal tax if structured efficiently under the old dividend tax system. Today in 2025, they’re paying £21,250. Next year, under Labour’s new budget, they’ll pay over £23,000. And that’s after the company has already paid 25% corporation tax on the profits used to fund that dividend. In a decade, we’ve gone from a manageable tax bill to one where the state takes nearly a quarter of the dividend on top of corporation tax before the owner sees a penny. That’s a nearly 800% increase in personal tax on the same £100k. All for the crime of running a business in Britain. - This is why entrepreneurship is dying here. - This is why people aren’t scaling. - This is why founders are taking their companies and jobs abroad. If you want growth, stop treating business owners like a bottomless ATM. Britain needs entrepreneurs, not policies that punish them for succeeding.