Law of unintended consequences

Is this an example of the law of unintended consequences, or is this government deliberately trying to put all small companies out of business?

It is generally accepted that small business is the bedrock of the economy. There are thousands of small businesses employing many more thousand people and paying VAT, corporation tax and income tax. There used to be a philosophy of encouraging enterprise but in recent years the government has brought in measures that in aggregate will mean that it becomes impossible for many businesses to continue to trade.

1. The minimum wage is turning into the “living wage” and set to increase from £6.70/hour to £7.20/hr from April 2016
2. This increase will affect all working parents as costs of childcare will increase making it not viable for some to continue working
3. All employers will have to auto-enrol all qualifying employees into a pension, which will eventually cost the employer a further 3% of their payroll bills, not to mention the cost of administering the pension
4. For directors running their own companies, where they have been drawing modest salaries and taking the rest of their income by way of dividends, there will be a further 7.5% tax on these dividends from 6 April
5. The government have removed the employer’s allowance for single director companies from 6 April
6. Entrepreneurs who have worked hard and are looking to provide for their pensions by investing in property, are being hit by several new tax-raids that are being phased in over the next 4 years.
7. For those who want to save for their pensions by investing in pension schemes, there are further plans afoot to reduce the tax relief available to them.

Maybe the government really wants everyone to be on benefits or, better still, be employed by Google or Starbucks!