With an apparent budget deficit of up to £50bn, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is eyeing up a number of tax cuts and more freezes to thresholds following the disastrous mini Budget overseen by former PM Liz Truss.

There is talk that the current dividend allowance could be halved to £1,000, while tax on dividends could also increase by 1.5% in an attempt to raise a further £2bn.

Michael Court, senior tax manager at MHA, fears the government may continue with changes to the tax system to strip away rewards for entrepreneurial risk: ‘Previously, there were tax breaks for owner-managers who took a nominal salary and topped that salary up with dividends. This was always regarded as a reward for taking significant entrepreneurial risk.