Capital gains tax review sparks fears of rate increases

The chancellor has asked the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) to undertake a review of capital gains tax and aspects of the taxation of chargeable gains in relation to individuals and smaller businesses.

As well as looking at opportunities to simplify the administration and impact of technical issues the review will consider how the rules can distort behaviour or fail to meet their policy intent.

The OTS has published a scoping document for the review along with an online survey and call for evidence.

The call for evidence is in two sections. The first seeks high-level comments on the principles of capital gains tax by 10 August 2020. For example how do the exemptions and reliefs fit together and to what extent do they incentivise some decisions over others; does the loss regime distort decisions about when to buy or sell assets; how does the boundary between...