Post Written by Vasily Alekseenko

I saw a report this week that made me pause.

It’s from the TaxPayers’ Alliance — and it breaks down just how brutal the UK tax system is for entrepreneurs. The kind of brutal that makes you wonder why anyone’s still trying.

According to the report, if you’re building a business in the UK, you could end up paying up to 93% in taxes by the time you’ve earned, invested, scaled, and maybe one day tried to pass something on to your family.

Yes, that’s not a typo.

The government basically lets you keep 10p out of every £1 you generate.

Now let’s be honest — most founders don’t get to that point. Most don’t make millions. Most don’t even make a salary in the early years. But the message this sends is loud and clear: Don’t bother.

Because here’s the thing — even if you “make it”, you don’t really. You’ll still be hit at every stage:

• Corporation tax when your company earns

• Income tax and NI if you pay yourself

• Capital gains if you exit

• Inheritance tax if you die (cheerful, I know)

• And VAT along the way for good measure

There’s a lot of talk about making the UK a “startup nation”. But the reality is we’re punishing the very people we’re relying on to create jobs and fuel the economy.

And it’s showing.

• The number of new firms is down

• The total number of UK businesses is falling

• The fear of failure is rising

• And people are simply giving up before they even start

I’m not saying entrepreneurs shouldn’t pay taxes. But if we keep sending the message that success will be punished — why would anyone bother?

So what could actually help?

Nothing radical. Just a bit of common sense:

• Reward risk properly: If someone puts everything on the line to build something, let them keep more than 10% of the upside.

• Make tax policy predictable: Founders already deal with chaos. Constant changes in tax rules make it even harder to plan.

• Bring back incentives: More support for early-stage investors, better capital gains treatment, proper breaks for small businesses.

• Cut the noise: Simplify the tax system so founders can spend more time building — and less time with accountants explaining why their spreadsheet has five tabs just for tax.

And what can we do as a founder community?

We stop waiting for someone else to fix it.

• We start speaking up — not just in echo chambers, but to policymakers, to the media, to anyone who will listen.

• We share stories, not just wins. The real cost of building something here — emotionally, financially, practically.

• We collaborate — align with other founder networks, investor groups, and platforms already working on these issues.

• And when there’s an election? We make noise. We ask candidates what they’re doing for small businesses, not just big corporations.

If we want change, we need to be louder, more united, and harder to ignore.

Otherwise, this cycle will continue — and the next generation of founders won’t even get started.

Full report is here if you want to dive deeper.

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