Small Business Taskforce created to 'protect SMEs' in post-Brexit UK 21 Oct 2016The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has joined forces with 12 other organisations to create a Small Business Taskforce, designed to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the UK negotiates its exit from the EU. In a letter sent to the Government, the new taskforce called for exports to be protected and a review of the funding available for business support to be undertaken. The group also suggested that a consultation with small businesses and self-employed individuals regarding trade deals and domestic policy be carried out. Echoing calls made by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) in its Autumn Statement submission for the Government to ‘introduce no new input taxes or other significant costs on businesses for the remainder of this Parliament’, the taskforce has also urged the Government not to introduce new taxes without proper consultation following the UK’s exit from the EU. Both the BCC and the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) have stated that they will work with the Small Business Taskforce ‘on an issue-by-issue basis’.