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The Forum of Private Business (FPB) started the petition in the wake of concerns that the Pre Budget announcment to replace the 10 per cent taper relief on asset sales with a flat 18 per cent rate would pile even more pressure onto small businesses, which have already been hit hard by increased Corporation Tax. (See PBR(5): Capital Gains Tax petition - Shout99, Oct 2007)
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The Tatton MP visited the FPB's offices in Knutsford, at the heart of his constituency in order to sign a petition that has so far secured over 700 signatures of smaller-business owners. He said he has campaigned across the country for the decision to be reversed.
Mr Osborne met with the FPB's Chief Executive, David Roughley, and Campaigns Manager, Matt Hardman, who impressed on him that members had expressed outrage at this latest proposal, and other policies of Mr Brown's government that appear to target smaller businesses.
Retirement
The group said that a move by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, to try to soften the blow by handing the owners of small businesses £100,000 in tax relief when they retire and sell up does not go far enough, the FPB believes. Many small firms have backed Mr Osborne's calls for a complete u-turn on this proposal, which would see them paying almost double the amount of Capital Gains Tax on their asset sales.
FPB's Mr Roughley said: "Mr Darling seems to have recognised that this was an ill thought-out policy.
"It's a start, but reducing the burden for business owners on the verge of retirement is only a small step. We are glad that we have got George Osborne's support on this. The FPB believes that the Chancellor has not gone far enough, and that serial entrepreneurs investing in and selling companies will still be deterred by the change."
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