Workers in share-owning schemes set to lose tax breaks
Over a quarter of a million workers could be worse off due to the Chancellor's decision to reform capital gains tax (CGT), ifs ProShare, the not-for-profit organisation that promotes employee share ownership, has warned.
From April, CGT will be charged at a flat rate of 18 per cent, down from the current level of 40 per cent. A series of reliefs are, however, being scrapped as part of the reform. Among these is a tax break that allows employees who have held shares in their own firm for longer than two years – via an authorised Save As You Earn (SAYE) scheme – to pay CGT at just 5 per cent. In effect, this means that, from the next tax year, when SAYE scheme members come to sell their shares they will be paying 13 per cent more tax on any profits made, above their annual CGT threshold.
"When the Chancellor first announced these changes [in the pre-Budget report], we made it clear that a significant minority of SAYE participants would be affected," said Fiona Downes, head of employee share ownership at ifs ProShare. "If the Government wishes to continue encouraging medium- and long-term saving through employee share ownership, then action is needed to address this."
Ifs ProShare told Treasury officials of its disquiet in a meeting last Thursday. The organisation is calling for SAYE schemes to be exempt from the new CGT flat-rate regime.
- 1 6 tips for taking out a personal loan
- 2 Be prepared for the job axe to fall
- 3 Wealth Check: 'How can we put a bit aside to enjoy luxuries?'
- 4 Keep cool in the heat of an auction and bag a bargain
- 5 Does Co-op deal look tempting to energy switchers?
- 6 Make money as a mystery shopper
- 7 BBC to air allegations of UK firms avoiding tax
- 8 How to start your own internet business
- 9 'Rent to buy'? Good idea, but it's a shame about the small print
- 10 Ten ways to earn a second income
- 1 Mark Steel: Starve the Greeks and they'll feel better
- 2 Sex in dressing rooms and Play School presenters 'stoned out of their minds' - inside BBC Television Centre
- 3 Fury as blind people hit by benefit reform
- 4 Now that's what I call music...
- 5 Grace Dent: Twitter might have turned into a party with 10 million guests, but I'm still loving every minute of it
- 6 The dark side of Dubai
- 7 French in uproar over oral sex anti-smoking posters
- 8 The $175m flop so bad it could end the 3D boom
- 9 QPR captain Joey Barton threatens to 'expose' Gary Lineker and says of Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer - 'I despise him'
- 10 Coke reveals its secret: It may need to carry a cancer warning
Experience the Heineken Hub
Get free wi-fi and exclusive i content while you enjoy a tasty pint of Heineken at participating pubs.
Can you imagine a career in teaching?
Be inspired to teach - let real teachers show you how rewarding the job can be.
Keeping pace with the London 2012 Games
Cisco is providing the solutions for London 2012's complex IT needs.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Career Services
Day In a Page
Charlie Duke: I see the Moon as a science station in the future
Facebook: Is it worth it?
So, Dave, is your top track 'money' or 'us and them'?




Comments