Employers should not be forced to make up shortfalls in the government's personal tax policies, one industry body has stated.
Phil Orford, chief executive of the Forum of Private Business, explained that while workers might struggle following the abolishing of the ten pence tax band, it should not be down to firms to compensate them via the minimum wage.
He said: "This is not even a stealth tax; it is a blatant attempt to retain revenues generated by the removal of the ten pence personal taxation rate by forcing businesses to bear the financial burden through increases in the minimum wage."
Mr Orford warned that small firms already feel they are being damaged by the minimum wage.
He cited research conducted in 2005 which found that 40 per cent of respondents had found that continual increases have had a bad or very bad effect on businesses.
Last week, Simon Briault, a spokesperson for the Federation of Small Businesses, called on local government to do more to help small firms in their local community
