David Cameron, leader of the Conservative party, has proposed that small businesses should receive a one pence tax cut over the next six months.
The cut would apply to companies with four staff members or fewer and the party has said that businesses could save up to £600.
Mr Cameron also called for local authorities to pay small businesses for their services within 20 days, rather than 30, and for a VAT holiday for small and medium-sized companies with up to 250 staff.
He said: "In politics you only have a certain amount of time and capital to expend – spend it on the things that will make a difference and that is where helping the cashflow of small businesses would actually be a lot more powerful."
Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has proposed to bring forward large projects such as replacing Trident and the £45 billion upgrade of all secondary schools to create 500,000 new jobs.
