More than nine out of 10 employers think the planned hike in employers' National Insurance in 2010 will increase unemployment.
Ninety four percent of 450 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), surveyed by business advisers MacIntyre Hudson, believe the 0.5% increase in employers' National Insurance contributions, due to come in next year, will discourage them from employing.
Nine out of 10 think the Government has focused too much on helping big businesses, such as car manufacturers and banks, and 88% think the money spent on VAT reductions announced by the chancellor, Alistair Darling, in November's pre-Budget report would have been better spent on reducing tax on business. And 92% would like to have seen a reduction in income tax for low earners.
A further 90% would like to see reductions in National Insurance to encourage employment.
Nigel May, tax principal at MacIntyre Hudson, said: "The business community knows money is tight and any further measures must be carefully targeted. At a time when unemployment is rising rapidly, National Insurance, the tax on jobs, should be reduced, not increased."
But speaking yesterday on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, the chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling said getting people back into work would be his "top priority".