Self-employed ‘at risk of debt’

Self-employed workers in the UK could be at more risk of falling into debt than those who are employed by others.

Rhiannon Davies, co-founder of Shelter Offshore, has said that the nation is failing to support people who work for themselves.

The industry expert was speaking in response to statistics recently released by Foreign Direct Currency that showed nearly a quarter of people who own their own business are thinking about moving abroad.

Ms Davies cited excessive taxation as one of the main reasons for this.

“The UK restricts self-employed individuals on so many levels – the self-employed pay Class 4 National Insurance contributions, for example, which is effectively a tax on tax,” the specialist explained.

She added that there seems to be a resentful attitude in the UK towards successful individuals.

A new study by Kensington Mortgages has shown that there are currently five million self-employed people in the UK and a quarter of them have been working for themselves for less than two years.

By Joe Shervin