Since 1927 the leading authority on tax law, practice and administration
.png)
.png)
The naked Chancellor
Jan 24, 2008, 05:41 AM
Authors :
Richard
Show link :
Yes
Show link in individual comments :
No
Show Printer-friendly URLs list :
Yes
User can post comments :
No
Display comments :
No
Sticky at top of lists :
No
Promoted to front page :
No
Premium content :
No
Feature in listings page :
No
Post date :
Jan 24, 2008, 05:41 AM
I don’t pretend to know for one minute what Alistair Darling will announce in respect of capital gains tax today, but I do wonder if there is something that we can learn from this exercise which is along the lines of ‘the Chancellor has no clothes on’.
I leave that thought in your imagination; if there is hair below the neckline, what do you think, – grey or black?
Oh no, I’ve started to think about it now!
Quick, get back onto the subject of tax.
What I actually had in mind by this analogy was that after almost ten years of taper relief, presumably based on the principle that we are using the tax system to encourage entrepreneurship, all of a sudden that idea is thrown out of the window and we say let’s just have a flat rate for all gains.
OK, if the rumours are to believed, it now sounds like we are going to get some relief for the disposal of smaller businesses, but is that ‘to encourage future entrepreneurship’ or is it really ‘to avoid losing votes at the next election, because those entrepreneurs who are already sitting on a substantial gain would be paying almost twice as much tax as they thought they would’?
I am wondering whether the original proposals might have opened the door to Number 11 a little and given us a glimpse of the Government’s thinking; i.e. that market forces will actually determine whether an entrepreneur starts up a business and that tax relief for future gains is just the ‘jam on top’.
Perhaps it’s best not to open that door too wide, who knows what else we might see that we shouldn’t!
To return to the fully-clothed world of Taxation.co.uk, zip up here.
I leave that thought in your imagination; if there is hair below the neckline, what do you think, – grey or black?
Oh no, I’ve started to think about it now!
Quick, get back onto the subject of tax.
What I actually had in mind by this analogy was that after almost ten years of taper relief, presumably based on the principle that we are using the tax system to encourage entrepreneurship, all of a sudden that idea is thrown out of the window and we say let’s just have a flat rate for all gains.
OK, if the rumours are to believed, it now sounds like we are going to get some relief for the disposal of smaller businesses, but is that ‘to encourage future entrepreneurship’ or is it really ‘to avoid losing votes at the next election, because those entrepreneurs who are already sitting on a substantial gain would be paying almost twice as much tax as they thought they would’?
I am wondering whether the original proposals might have opened the door to Number 11 a little and given us a glimpse of the Government’s thinking; i.e. that market forces will actually determine whether an entrepreneur starts up a business and that tax relief for future gains is just the ‘jam on top’.
Perhaps it’s best not to open that door too wide, who knows what else we might see that we shouldn’t!
To return to the fully-clothed world of Taxation.co.uk, zip up here.
Tags :
Tax Topic Tags :
- Blog
READERS' FORUM 
Tax tip: HMRC enquiries into R&D claims
Readers’ forum: Should income from different trades be declared separately?
Readers’ forum: Tax treatment of incentive upfront payment
Readers’ forum: What is the basis of the legal obligation to disclose errors?
Readers’ forum: Was credit note issued correctly for VAT purposes?
New queries
NEWS 
CASES
Copyright © 2024 LexisNexis
Leave a comment