Miles Templeman, Institute of Directors (IoD) director general, said chancellor Alistair Darling’s decision to delay his announcement on the proposed changes of the Capital Gains Tax (CGT) until the new year would lead to continued uncertainty at a time when business owners needed to take critical decisions.

'The government’s pro-enterprise credentials were seriously damaged by the original announcement in the pre-budget report,' he said.

‘The Government should recognise the impact of this by considering deferring implementation of the changes, and commit now to a firm date on which its final decision will be announced.’

Richard Lambert, Confederation of Business Industry (CBI) director-general, said CBI was disappointed at the delay but the chancellor needed to get on with this decision urgently, ‘as he promised at the CBI's conference a fortnight ago’.

Further reading:

Darling postpones CGT reforms until New Year

Tax the biggest concern for SMEs