Bradford has been chosen by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs to take part in a pilot scheme to help support new businesses.

HMRC will work with Bradford Council and Bradford Chamber to build better understanding among new businesses on key issues such as:

  • the importance of registering with HMRC at the time of becoming self-employed
  • the self-assessment tax requirements for new small businesses
  • the benefits to small businesses of VAT registration and the simplified VAT scheme.

Bradford is one of three cities to be utilised in the pilot.

Government departments are expected to take a keen interest in the pilot scheme and HMRC staff will provide specialised training to business counsellors working with the Council's Bradford Kickstart project to support start-up companies in the district.

David Matthews, project manager, said: "We are very pleased to support Bradford Kickstart and hope this will be a flagship scheme showing the benefits of national and local government agencies working together to support enterprise."