CBI: Government undermining businesses

News Article - 12 October 2007
Category: Business

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has accused the government of adversely affecting businesses with the recent changes to capital gains tax (CGT).

According to the organisation, chancellor Alistair Darling's pre-Budget report "undermines the ten-year effort by this government to promote enterprise and risk-taking within the UK" in its handling of GCT.

These comments were made in an open letter written CBI director general Richard Lambert to the chancellor. The letter was co-signed by 12 council members - all entrepreneurs - and Steve Sharratt, chairman of the CBI small and medium-sized enterprises council.

The issue at stake was that of the removal of taper relief, with the letter stating that small businesses and investors will be hit hard.

"You have deployed an extremely blunt instrument that will deeply damage a much wider community ... and in so doing, risk the medium-term health of our economy," it read.

However, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales praised the chancellor for reducing the tax burden placed upon small enterprises.

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