LONDON (Reuters – Britain’s Finance Ministry presented Monday options for reforming the tax system in order to increase investment by companies. Rishi, finance minister Rishi Sunak said he wanted to change the tax system to boost productivity and encourage more investments.

The ministry reported that data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development showed British businesses invest an equivalent to 10% of the gross domestic product per year. This compares with 14% for similar countries.

Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has pledged to create a high-wage industry. However, his government must also improve Britain’s productivity records which are far below those of other countries.

Sunak instituted a temporary super-deduction incentive during the coronavirus epidemic. This allowed companies to lower their tax bills by 25pence for each pound invested. But it expires in April 2019.

Britain’s budget watchdog predicted in October that the tax relief would cost 21.3 Billion Pounds (or $26.2 billion) over two years.

Future incentives could include increasing an annual investment allowance’s permanent amount or writing down lower rates, and introducing first-year general allowances to qualify for plant and machine expenditures.

Permanent full expensing for investment costs was another option, but it was rejected by the ministry because it would exceed 11 billion pounds per year.

It stated that the government would like to know if this approach is well-targeted if there is funding available and, if not, what other approaches could be used to achieve our goals.

According to the ministry, businesses are required to submit views no later than July 1.

($1 = 0.8129 pounds)