The director general of the CBI, Richard Lambert, has voiced his concerns over the effect that the Chancellor’s reforms to Capital Gains Tax are having on British business. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Lambert blamed the changes for introducing “confusion” and uncertainty to the business community. The Chancellor, Alistair Darling, set out plans for a flat rate CGT charge of 18 per cent and for abolishing taper relief in his pre-Budget report. Sustained criticism of the measure has since prompted the Treasury to consider amendments to the plans, but so far no details have been made public. Responding to the delay in any announcement, Mr Lambert said that business owners were unsure whether to sell assets now at the present 10 per cent rate or to wait until the Treasury makes a statement. Mr Lambert said: “If you have been building up a business over donkeys years and you suddenly face the prospect of a higher tax bill, you have to think now about whether you’re going to get out of it. That’s what people are doing. “They are beginning to take decisions that have nothing to do with business or economic common sense. They are doing it because they don't know what their tax liabilities are going to be.” The CBI chief argued that the abolition of the 10 per cent rate for the sale of business assets held for at least two years would harm entrepreneurship while rewarding those buy-to-let investors who sold their properties. Mr Lambert added that the 10 per cent CGT rate introduced by Gordon Brown had promoted new business development but that it had been expected that the incentive would have been sustained over a period of time. Date:16 January 2008
Content by: Made Simple Group
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