The Institute of Directors (IoD) has called on the government to introduce a tax super-deduction to plug an investment gap in retraining.
The IoD also outlined other measures to ‘help the UK reorientate to a higher skill economy’, including reintroducing lifelong personalised training budgets to be used on accredited vocational and professional training, and widening the uses to which firms deploy their Apprenticeship Levy funding pots.
The business group also advocates introducing tax allowances for sole traders and the self-employed to incentivise investment in accredited professional and vocational training.
Commenting on the issue, Kitty Ussher, Chief Economist at the IoD, said: ‘In an attempt to encourage physical investment, the March Budget included a welcome tax ‘super-deduction’ for capital investment in plant and machinery. But, as we have seen in recent weeks, we also have a gap for investment in retraining.
‘We would therefore like to see the super-deduction apply to investment in human capital as well as physical capital, after all many of the jobs of the future will be in the service sector.’
