Capital gains tax

Doubt very much if it will have any effect on me?
But I've signed it anyway, hope it helps.
Probably won't though, the whole worlds going bankrupt don't you know?
End of red, sub-prime credit, my car insurance has just gone up, the cost of Iraq (£s), failing "health" service.....We're all doomed!
 
I'm in favour of the proposed changes. For many forms of investment the new 18% rate is a reduction. For other investments it's an increase from 10% to 18% but I do not honestly believe that folks will decide (on a wholesale basis) not to invest when the rate is 18% whereas they would have invested if it were 10%. Fundamentally, about 20% is the "right" rate for CGT. I mean, it feels right. 10% was too low, and many folks thought that when it came in (which, for practical purposes, was 2002)

The new rules do involve significant simplification too.

I would be interested to hear the contrary view though. Why is 10% the right rate and 18% the wrong rate?
 
Good ole Sam Brtitten fatbastard of theFT always sed the right rate of tax was always 0% or 100%.

But numerous commentators and some politicians etc have mused at the idea that 20% for income, cgt, sales tax, death duties would be doable, easily known, not worth evading or avoiding by er going elsewhere. I agree.
 
Inflation is now 20% advised by the eastern european car park attendant on Monday when I challanged the increase from £ 10 per day to £ 12.00. for parking. ?
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Wit step taper relief at 10% it was worth closing down your overseas trust and paying the tax - at 18% the obverseas trust is better so there will be less yeild from that source.
On selling your rent-a-home there will be less tax and maybe a bigger yield because it has now become worth selling but also worth buying .... if you see what I mean.

I frankly think that any tax rate higher 10% is plain wrong.
I also beleive that governments cannot manage the country - just look at the NHS, still in a terrible state after a huge investment ....... I am starting to rant .... so I shall shut up /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
With higher rate income tax and dividends both averaging around 50% real tax rate to an owner manager, capital gains tax at 18% still seems fairly attractive, so I don't think it'll put people off investing.
 
jfm, as I have commented before, the 10% CGT taper relief arrangement was put in place to encourage entrepreneurs to build start up companies. Don't forget also that at the time that taper relief was brought in, indexation was dropped so it was'nt exactly a free gift from the govt
I think most peeps agree that small companies are the engine of the economy and most growth in the economy comes from small companies so the tax system should encourage small companies to grow, something which the taper relief system has been quite successful at
So there are many small company owners like me who have put tax plans in place to take advantage of the 10% taper relief and now we're faced with an 80% rise in our tax bill. This sends a message to me that the govt does'nt give a toss about small co's especially considering the recent rise in the corporation tax rate. I'm not the only one to think like this as evidenced by the many media articles about it and the unprecedented joint CBI/IoD/BCC/FSB campaign to get the Chancellor to change his mind
Apart from small company owners, this change will also affect the hundreds of thousands of employee shareholders, many of whom have accepted reduced pay and conditions in exchange for share options hoping that their hard work and dedication to their company will be rewarded in the future. Well it's been rewarded by an 80% tax rise
I can see that tax simplification is a good thing overall but the message sent out by this proposed change is just all wrong. Basically it says that long term growth is no more important than turning a quick buck
 
I'm with you on this Deleted User. I'm all for simplification of the tax system, but this is a bad change for all the reasons you've stated. Darling's first significant bit of policy and it's poorly thought through rubbish, this does not bode well....
 
You could be on to something...

People spend a lot of time evading / avoiding IHT because it is punitive and patently unfair to tax assets that were bought from taxed income.

People are becoming dishonest about their total income - and indeed believe it to be a sport (like scrumping apples) to avoid the punitive income tax rates at 62% (yes it is 62%).

CGT - see my first point.

I think it was Lamont who said that the relationship between the tax collected and the tax payer was a delicate balance where the payer felt he got value for money and that also it wasn't worth the effort to avoid paying. That relationship has been destroyed by this government long ago. Why? Because they hired an army of pen-pushers with higher than UK average salaries and gold plated pensions - 700,000 of them - as hired NuLabour voters, which is tantermount to gerrymandering on a vast scale.

And now the money is still running out, so expect more from the treasury....tax rises that is!
 
jfm, I'm with you on the simplification of taxes principle and the reduction in certain circumstances to 18%, but the scrapping of taper relief is a serious mistake.

Those contemplating a company disposal will fall into 2 camps - smaller businesses will just have to pay the extra 8% which will significantly reduce their retirement fund, and those with larger businesses may consider clearing off from the UK in order to avoid CGT altogether. It's those biggger chunks that the government will miss and I wouldn't be surprised if in the medium to long term CGT receipts fall.
 
I agree with all that. I am in the process of selling my business and will hopefully do so before the 1st April 2008. I closed an overseas trust a few years ago and brought the shares back because the tax regime here was OK. Had it been 18% I would not have done that.
Brown has made a total mess of the economy and the pidgeons are going to fly home to roost. He has now trapped himself into an election date that will be after the pidgeon is roosting.

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