HM Revenue & Customs figures indicate that thousands of small firms may be deliberately limiting expansion to avoid crossing the UK’s £90,000 VAT registration threshold, fuelling renewed calls for reform of what critics describe as a “cliff-edge” tax system. The data shows that 683,700 businesses reported turnover below the VAT threshold in the year to December 2025, up from 671,000 the previous year. Over the same period, the number of firms reporting turnover between £90,000...










