A SELF-EMPLOYED mum says Wednesday’s budget was a case of giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced those who are self-employed will soon be paying almost the same in National Insurances as those who are conventionally employed.

Long-standing tax advantages enjoyed by those who take the risk of working for themselves — without the security of holiday pay, sick pay, maternity pay and more — were slashed in the Budget statement.

Philip Hammond said the difference in tax benefits was “no longer justified”.

He added: “Historically, the differences in NI contributions between those in employment and the self-employed reflected differences in state pensions and contributory welfare benefits.

“But with the introduction of the new state pension, these differences have been very substantially reduced.”

Class four NI contributions, those paid by the self-employed, will go from nine per cent to 10 per cent in April 2018 before rising again to 11 per cent the following year.

It is estimated that the changes will impact around 1.6m self-employed people who will now be paying an average of £240 more per year.

Lisa Berry, a 34-year-old mother of two from Covingham, views the changes as a mixed bag.

“Looking at the budget as a whole I think the fact they have put lifetime ISAs in place is a good thing,” said Lisa, who runs jewellery business Cheeky Little Prints.

“But on National Insurance it feels like they’re giving with one hand and taking away with another.

“Abolishing the class two contributions was a positive thing for lower earners but then increasing the class four from nine to 10 per cent and then a further increase in 2019 is just hitting people again.

“The reason I’m self-employed is because I’m a single parent with two children on my own, for me employment isn’t easy.

“Being self-employed means I can be there for the school run, I can look after them in the holidays and work around them.

“It does feel quite unfair, it’s hard enough being a single parent without also trying to run a business — they are taking a one-size-fits-all approach but that isn’t the case.

“Loads of people are self-employed because they want to work around their families, self-employed people make up a massive part of the UK economy, more so these days.”

Another change announced by the Chancellor was a reduction in the tax free allowance for company owners who pay themselves in dividends rather than salaries — from £5,000 to £2,000.

Lisa argued that such a move would discourage sole traders, like herself, from incorporating their businesses.

Fellow Swindon small businessman John Linstead, who owns his own small waste management firm, said that it often felt as if the Government was moving the goal posts that made an already challenging environment much tougher.

“It is difficult being self-employed and I don’t think they’re making it easier,” he said.

“I’ve put so much time and money into my business, but sometimes you need a bit of help too.”

Lisa agreed that the Government, in particular HMRC, could do more to support sole traders and small businesses., particularly when changing the rules and regulations.

“It’s difficult to keep on top of everything,” she said.

“I’ve been in business now for nearly eight years but things change so much - often you don’t realise because you just don’t have the time to research every little change.”

“I do my own accounts, I don’t have an accountant doing them for me. Unless you can afford to use the experts then you do miss out on some of the ways to work within those rules to get the best out of your accounts.

“Perhaps HMRC can look at how they roll out these changes and do more to notify self-employed people.”

Lisa runs her business from home - for more information visit www.cheekylittleprints.co.uk