BCC shows a united front

News Article - 12 November 2007
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All 56 member chambers of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) have signed a letter of protest against the government's proposed capital gains tax (CGT) reforms.

Reported in the Telegraph, the government's planned flat rate CGT of 18 per cent could see an 80 per cent jump in some entrepreneurs' taxes when they sell business assets at retirement. The BCC claims this will "damage the spirit of entrepreneurship and enterprise".

This is the first time all the branches of the BCC have put up a united front, according to the newspaper.

"We wanted to show the chancellor the real feeling against this [CGT] from every part of the UK," said the BCC director-general David Frost.

The letter urges the government to keep the current ten per cent tax relief, a rate it has been at since 1998.

The BCC recently expressed its disappointment that the monetary policy committee retained the Bank of England's base rate at 5.75 per cent, claiming a rate cut "would not have posed serious risks".

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