The research by Thomson Reuters reveals that there are now 57 tax reliefs available to businesses, up from 39 in 2012-13. The financial year 2014-15 reported 62 tax reliefs which was the highest recorded in the last decade.

The figure of 57 is what HMRC ‘deems significant enough to report on as there are several hundred more that go unreported due to their low level of use, many are so small that it is assumed they are worth negligible amounts to the business community’.

While tax reliefs play a vital role in encouraging business growth, the tax system has now become enormously complex for businesses however, the act of reducing them could disadvantage businesses that rely on the smaller reliefs.