Anyone who bangs on about an "80% increase" without saying what it is an increase over deserves to be soundly ignored. And anyway, since when did we start talking of percentages of percentages in this way? It is hard to escape the conclusion they are trying to scare and mislead - as thought the new tax rate was 80% or something crazy instead of the actual 18% (compared with 10% in the best case before).

Frankly, as a small business owner, I'm not much exercised over whether I get to keep 82% or 90% in the unlikely event that it ever becomes worth a lot. On the other hand, I do appreciate it being a simple rule, rather than feeling some kind of nagging doubt whether I should pay the accountant thousands of pounds now to wangle things into a tax efficient structure that only they understand.

There have been loads of nifty little loophole-ettes in capital gains tax, that have allowed lots of very wealthy people to stay that way, while everyone else (normal people, like you and me) may now pay a bit more, the fat cats pay a shit load more, boo hoo hoo.

Am I going to give up my share options (that I don't have anyway, becuase I never got round to setting them up) No.

Is it right to tax someone for sitting on their arse and letting money just come to them for little, if any work? If it's right to tax us for working our arses off for our cash, it is certainly right to tax us if we do sod all to get money.

Tax is what makes society, without tax we don't have a society, we wouldn't be able to afford it. It staggers me that the amount of really rich bastards that pay hardly any tax is accepted. Also that tax avoidance is not just made illigal across the board.

Before the range of capital gains tax was 10% to 40%. Now it's 18% for all cases. There will be a net LOSS of tax to the treasury because of this change IIRC.

Fraser wrote:

> Is it right to tax someone for sitting on their arse and letting money

> just come to them for little, if any work?

I agree. Higher-rate tax payers have just had the tax they pay on their shares cut from 40% to 18%. I think that's disgraceful.

"There will be a net LOSS of tax to the treasury because of this change IIRC."

Rubbish. Its the tax raise from this that is paying for the half a washing line of Tory clothes they stole, i.e. the inheritance tax changes, if you take them at their word that the tax on non doms is insignificant.

Plus the governments idea of a competitive rate doesn't seem to take in to any account the fact its higher than the US, France, Italy, etc.