HALE accountant, Murray Patt, is urging the Government to forcefully reject EU proposals for a new tax regime, saying it will harm businesses in Trafford.

The European Union has put forward proposals to try and ‘harmonise’ tax rates in every country in the EU collecting the same proportion of tax from businesses.

Currently the UK has one of the lowest rates of corporation tax in Europe but pressure from the EU could see it hiked up to make it the same all over Europe.

Murray Patt, founder of Hale-based accountants Alexander Knight & Co, claimed this would be devastating for local businesses: “We believe this is wrong. The UK must be allowed to keep control of its own tax regime in order to remain competitive.

"Harmonisation of taxes across the EU would have a devastating effect on the small and medium sized businesses I talk to across Trafford.

“Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the local economy and we should be doing all we can to keep taxes low and increase opportunities for business owners to create more employment in Trafford.

"We’ve written to Graham Brady MP, to voice our concerns. His voice is a powerful one in Government and we’re confident he and his colleagues at Westminster share our view.”