Although HMRC has made efforts to simplify life for the small business, VAT and Payroll remain a perennial nightmare. This is not because you don't want to pay what is due but because the complexity of the regulations make diffcult to get it right. Partial exemption is just one of a series of areas where the rules are not clearcut and the fear is that at some stage an inspector wanting to make his or her name can descend upon you with complex examinations and claims for back- tax which, as a small business, you have not the resources to contest.
Scrapping this particular measure would be an unsung triumph, but, in terms of saving energy for the real job of generating taxable profit, very worthwhile. I commend it to the Chancellor.