Entrepreneurs are ‘united in frustration and anger’ at the chancellor’s plans to introduce a flat rate for Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
That was the message expressed today by Duncan Cheatle at a gathering of business representatives to discuss the abolition of taper relief.
Duncan
Cheatle, founder of entrepreneur club group The Supper Club, posted a petition on the Downing Street website calling for Gordon Brown to keep taper relief in place. The petition currently has nearly 12,000 signatures.
The announcement, in last week’s pre-Budget report, of a new flat rate of 18% for CGT has been met with strong criticism from many entrepreneurs.
Cheatle said that entrepreneurs who work hard creating new jobs and paying tax along the way ‘
feel like they’ve had a kick in the teeth’.
The gathering in London was also attended by tax experts and shadow minister for the Treasury, David Gauke.
Addressing the concerns of several of the entrepreneurs in the audience, Gauke said:
“
The changes to CGT which Darling announced last week are a bad mistake. It will damage the culture of enterprise in this country.
“This will do nothing for small and medium-sized businesses who are, after all, the wealth creators this country depends upon.”
James Murray Wells, founder of online spectacles company Glasses Direct said the proposals marked a ‘fundamental shift in the government’s attitude towards start-up businesses’.
Representatives of the Treasury were also asked to attend the event but declined the invite.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2007
