ICAEW calls for ‘more thought’ on CGT changes

The
Institute
of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) has put forward
practical recommendations to help soften the impact of chancellor’s Alistair
Darling’s proposed changes to the
capital gains tax
(CGT) system.

‘We support tax simplification and recognise that the government has had
previous discussions simplifying CGT and taper relief, Frank Haskew, head of the
ICAEW tax faculty, said. ‘However, we think that the proposed CGT reform
announced in the PBR requires more thought, in particular because simplification
needs to be balanced against a number of other factors.’

ICAEW would like to see consideration given to adopting one or more of the
following options:

• Deferring the start date from 6 April 2008 to 6 April 2009 to permit more
time for taxpayers to reorganise their affairs
• Preserving taxpayers’ entitlements to existing reliefs so that they are not
unduly disadvantaged
• Considering a possible exemption on gains for smaller businesses similar to
the former retirement relief
• Considering a possible rebasing of CGT, for example to 31 March 2002

Further reading:

Darling ‘did not rush through’ PBR tax changes

Business lobby fails to sway chancellor on CGT