Conservatives

• No rise in VAT or National Insurance contributions
• Raise personal allowance to £12,500
• Raise 40% tax threshold to £50k
• Increase minimum wage
• Ensure people working 30 hours a week on minimum wage are kept out of tax
• Maintain the freeze in working-age benefits for the next two years
• 30 hours of free childcare per week for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds
• Fund 3 million apprenticeships

Labour

• No rise in VAT or National Insurance Contributions
• Raise minimum wage to more than £8 an hour by 2019
• Re-introduce the 10% starting rate of income tax and the 50% top rate of income tax for people earning over £150k
• No changes to basic and higher rates of income tax
• Tax credits rise in line with inflation from next year
• Guaranteed job for under-25s unemployed for over a year and for adults unemployed over two years
• Introduce apprenticeships for every school leaver who gets the grades
• Companies to pay interns at least the minimum wage if they work for more than a month
• Restrictions to zero-hours contracts

Liberal Democrats

• Increase tax-free allowance to £12,500
• Extend reserved paternity leave from 2 to 6 weeks
• Double the number of businesses hiring apprentices
• Develop national colleges for vocational skills

Green Party

• Increase the minimum wage to £8.10 in 2015 and £10 per hour by 2020
• Introduce a 60% income tax rate for salaries above £150,000 a year
• Reduce employers National Insurance to 8%
• Ban zero-hours contracts
• Introduce a maximum 35-hour working week            
• Consult on introducing a Basic Income, a fixed amount paid to every individual

UKIP

• Increase personal allowance to £13,500
• No tax on the minimum wage
• Introduce new 30% tax band for those earning between £45,300 and £55,000, and a 40% rate for salaries above £55,000
• Subject zero-hours contracts to a binding code of conduct
• Allow young people to start an apprenticeship in place of four non-core subjects at GSCE level
• Allow employers to prioritise British citizens for jobs

Conservatives

• Review of business rates by the end of the year
• Oppose increases to Corporation Tax

Labour

• Cut or freeze business rates for 1.5m small businesses
• Corporation tax to increase to 21%
• Close tax loopholes and bring in tough penalties for those who abuse the tax system

Liberal Democrats

• Introduce Land Value Tax to replace Business Rates in the longer term
• Bring in tax rises on corporations and the wealthy
• Reduce tax avoidance

Green Party

• Maintain corporation tax for small firms at 20% and introduce 30% level for larger firms
• Allow local authorities to set local business rates
• Apply VAT at 5% for cooked food, entertainment and accommodation
• Crack down on tax dodging, including obliging banks to provide information  about companies automatically to HMRC
• Introduce a financial transaction tax on banks

UKIP

• 20% rate relief for businesses with properties whose rateable value is less than £50,000 in total
• Plan to abolish “green taxes” and levies

Conservatives

• Strengthen the Prompt Payment Code and ensure that all major government suppliers sign up
• Establish a new Small Business Conciliation service to mediate in disputes, especially over late payment
• Triple the number of start-up loans to businesses to 75,000
• £1 billion to help 500 fast growing firms secure financial support to grow from small to medium size
• Raise the target for small businesses’ share of central government procurement to one-third
• Set a new, higher, permanent level for the Annual Investment Allowance

Labour

• Address rising costs for small businesses
• Strengthen rules on late payment
• Establish a British Investment Bank with the mission to help businesses grow and improve access to finance for small and medium-sized businesses

Liberal Democrats

• Encouraging the growth of crowd funding and alternative finance models
• Build on the Coalition’s BAME Access to Finance report to identify ways to encourage more BAME applicants to apply for finance and set up small businesses
• Work to open up public procurement to small and medium-sized companies

Green Party

• Ensure legislation requiring that small businesses should be paid on time is properly enforced
• Increase access to finance by investing £2 billion in a network of community banks, mutually owned and serving local areas or particular groups

UKIP

• Introduce a scheme where small businesses can report late payments to HMRC who can impose fines
• End a growing practice where large companies extend their payment terms to small companies
• Pilot a scheme to improve access to trade credit insurance to small businesses
• Make it easier for smaller businesses to tender for public sector contracts by removing the necessity to demonstrate compliance in areas irrelevant to the job being tendered for

Conservatives

• Cut £10 billion of red tape
• Keep One-In-Two-Out rule

Labour

• Strengthen the influence national parliaments have over European legislation, by arguing for a ‘red-card mechanism’ for member states

Liberal Democrats

• Reduce the burden of EU legislation on business by curbing unnecessary red tape
• Exempting small businesses from EU rules where possible
• Defending the UK opt-out to the Working Time Directive

Green Party

• Simplify PAYE through their Basic Income proposals
• Amend company law to ensure medium and large companies report on the environmental impact of their activities.

UKIP

• Repeal EU regulations and directives that stifle business growth

Conservatives

• Roll out universal broadband and better mobile phone connections
• Ensure superfast broadband is available to 95% of the UK by the end of 2017

Labour

• Support the delivery of the mobile infrastructure needed to extend internet coverage and reduce ‘not spots’
• Require employee representation on company remuneration committees

Liberal Democrats

• Complete the rollout of high-speed broadband to reach small businesses in both rural and urban areas
• Provide further support to medium-sized businesses through a one-stop-shop for accessing government support, a dedicated unit in HMRC and the development of management skills

Green Party

• Ensure affordable high-speed broadband-capable infrastructure is in place to every household and small business

UKIP

• Push every local authority in the country to offer at least 30 minutes free parking in town centres, high streets and shopping parades, to encourage shoppers into our town centres and boost local business