Petition against the demise of BATR??

Petition against the demise of BATR??

Didn't find your answer?

For those of you who feel that the demise of BATR is a retrograde step you can sign a petition at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/SaveCGTrelief/ on the 10 Downing Street website.

Last time I checked it had already gathered almost 10,000 signatures. If we can sucessfully petition Carter over tax return filing deadlines then perhaps we can do the same again with taper relief.
John G

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By AnonymousUser
17th Oct 2007 12:40

Is it really retrograde?
The fundamental flaw with taper relief is that it distorts the timing of asset disposals because sales may be deferred just to get a tax reduction and not for any business reason.

A flat rate eliminates that distortion. Surely a good thing.

There would be no protests about the demise of taper if the flat rate substituted was not 18% but 10% for business assets and 12% and 24% for non-business assets.

The Treasury amd HMRC will see thru the protests as a smokescreen for a demand for taxing capital gains at an even lower rate than the currently offered and actually quite generous 18%.

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By newmoon
17th Oct 2007 14:24

I think the argument is ....
Taper Relief had it's problems, but overall it was considered to encourage business. That surely was the reason for Business Asset Taper Relief.
The flat rate is speculator friendly, and definitely far less friendly towards businesses.
Speculation doesn't create wealth - it justs shifts the wealth around, with winners and a corresponding loosers.
Business actually creates wealth, and this is surely good for the country ... and the government.
The flat rate of Capital Gains Tax is also likely to increase buy to let speculator demand for houses, at the expense of first time buyers.
I've never really understood why the public in general seem to think that house price increases is good. Surely the only people who benefit are those downsizing, those with more than one property, estate agents, banks, building societies and lenders, and HM Revenue and Customs. Surely everyone else just ends up borrowing more and paying more?

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By AnonymousUser
22nd Oct 2007 14:25

To Ebenezer
I have a client who has run a farm business for 20+ years. He was going to sell his farm in the Spring as he is fed up of the low profits he is making. If he waits until after 6/4 his tax bill increases by over £45k. He now has to try and rush a sale of his business through before 5/4 when the marketplace is an all time low, due to foot and mouth, blue tongue etc

If the Chancellor had simply raised the taper relief period to 5 years, then most true business owners could have continued to be taxed at 10% whilst the real target of this change in legislation would either have to stay with the business for longer or pay a higher rate.

I am sure that this would have been genuine losers in this situation too but at leastthe majority of true businesses would be able to plan with some certainty about their exit strategy. As it is, there may well be a rush to the market place by business owners who now have less than 6 months to advertise, market and sell their business.

I for one will be signing the petition and now of a farmer who will also be signing up

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By User deleted
22nd Oct 2007 17:15

Anything to make life easier.......
One minute we complain that Taper Relief is too complicated, now we complain that its going.

There's always going to be winners and losers in this game. Some will pay more, some will pay less. Truth is though that a flat rate makes the job a hell of a lot easier. That's a bonus in my book!

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By AnonymousUser
23rd Oct 2007 10:58

It's not all that bad
Remember when they introduced Taper in 98 and everyone thought it was wildly generous? Then in 2000 they cut the qualifying period for full relief to only two years, which is scarcely what you'd call a long term investment. Now investors will have to pay 18%, which is still way less than wage slaves on 31% (new 20% IT + 11% NIC) or 41%. It's the lowest headline rate of CGT ever. Cheer up!

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