The CBI has some research figures out today that suggest entrepreneurs are considering selling up before April, a phenomenon that we are expecting but don't really have a precise handle on.

Those involved in the ongoing row about CGT might benefit from looking at some HMRC research into the tax from a year ago.

The taxman published some Ipsos-MORI numbers about this time last year, which had some interesting avoidance stuff in, but more importantly has some data that precedes the current row on how CGT affects investment decisions.

Quite a lot of people said they thought about the tax a lot when investing, and if you click through to the paper and go to page 57 you'll see a whole bundle of figures on it.

But what caught my eye more was the introduction;

While CGT was generally not cited spontaneously as a consideration in CGT payers’ investment behaviour, when prompted specifically about this, far more viewed it as a consideration.

It wouldn't be the case, would it, that people claim tax is hugely important to them when asked about it. But, unprompted, they actually reveal what they really think, that it doesn't matter to them really?