The majority of small businesses in the UK have taken a dim view of changes made to the tax system by the current government, research by the Forum of Private Business shows.

The FPB polled its members to record attitudes on implemented tax changes as the coalition reaches the mid-point of its five-year term. Overall, the changes were seen to be negative in terms of resolving issues around fairness, simplicity, efficiency, stability and certainty in the tax system.

In total 28% of business owners said they thought the fairness of the tax system had deteriorated, compared to 17% reporting an improvement. A quarter thought it had become more complex, opposed to 14% saying it has simplified. And dealing a blow to HMRC, 26% said the efficiency of the tax system had got worse. Just 10% thought it had improved.

This latter point raises concerns about how HMRC will cope with Real Time Information (RTI) due to begin this month.

The research also showed the single biggest complaint small firms had regarding their current tax spending was business rates. A huge 94% of all business owners felt that the level of taxation on commercial properties was now too high.

“It’s probably fair to say that business rates are the most despised of all commercial taxes by the UK’s small business owners,” said the Forum’s Chief Executive, Phil Orford.  “It’s a crippling tax that business owners simply have no choice but to pay, and for many who claim to see no discernible benefit to having paid up, it clearly sticks in their craw.”