Alistair Darling has sustained yet another round of heavy criticism for his decision to scrap taper relief, with the ABI and Brewin Dolphin weighing in to the debate.
Stephen Haddrill, director general of the ABI, told the FT that the decision to scrap the taper on capital games tax and introduce a flat 18% rate will discourage saving and confuse consumers.
He said the changes would make investing through a unit trust more attractive than saving through an insurance-based product from a CGT perspective. This could cause 'real damage'.
Brewin Dolphin, meanwhile, has said that the CGT change could hit the AIM market as thousands of shareholders sell shares before the flat rate of 18% is introduced in April. This could artificially cut share prices, Brewin Dolphin told the Daily Telegraph.
Darling has been delaying on announcing his final CGT policy for months, angering business lobby groups and advisers.
The FT reports that the chancellor is now considering one more round of consultation with business over the proposed changes to the final CGT rules before revealing the changes next week.
Other experts have suggested Darling may even go so far as to put the change back a year to buy more time.
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