Lord Sainsbury manoeuvre saves £27m in CGT
Lord Sainsbury’s transfer of £340m worth of shares avoids the CGT changes, saving him more than £27m
Labour peer Lord Sainsbury has transferred £340m worth of shares he
personally owned to a company he controls, reportedly saving him more than £27m
by avoiding the controversial changes to the capital gains tax (CGT) regime.
The peer transferred 92m of his shares yesterday to Innotech Advisers, just
in time for him to pay CGT at the lower rate of 10% before it rises to a flat
rate of 18% on Sunday – or £34m compared with the £61.2m he would be taxed if he
sold the shares next week, according to The Daily Mail.
The transfer was made in the expectation that he will on-sell the shares at a
later date, when the tax will be less than if he had continued to keep the
shares in his name.
A spokesperson for Lord Sainsbury said the peer would not make any profit
himself from transferring the shares, which he inherited on the death of his
father, and that he intended to use the money for charitable donations.
Further reading:
Business owners sell to beat CGT hike