How are debts owed to family members dealt with in divorce proceedings?
The first question for the court to determine is whether the debts are legitimate, and this is a...
There is much current discussion of the proposed increases in CGT to be announced as part of the Emergency Budget on 22 June, and speculation regarding the promised "generous" rules for business assets.
Unfortunately, Government pronouncements to date have been frustratingly vague, and beg a whole range of questions, for example:-
- will the changes be introduced from Budget day or 6 April 2011?
- will the current structure of Entrepreneurs' Relief remain the same for those with business assets worth up to £2 million? If so, an increase in the underlying CGT rate would logically mean an increase in the effective rate and result in them being worse off.
- how will the "generous" rules for business assets interact with the new CGT rate for those with business assets worth more than £2 million? Will they be worse or (seemingly unlikely) better off?
There appears to be increasing talk of a return to taper relief, although presumably not with an ultimate effective rate of 10%. It will be interesting to see how the Government balances the criticism of its CGT rate by businesses against its commitment to reducing the deficit, as evidenced by the Prime Minister's "years of pain ahead" interview at the weekend.
The most that can be said is that entrepreneurs should be scheduling meetings with their tax advisors to discuss potential tax planning strategies.
Query whether a decision to introduce the CGT changes from the end of the tax year will result in a rush to realise assets akin to April 2008. Unless the state of the economy improves markedly over the coming months, probably not, but deals are still being done. Business owners who have engaged in a proper exit planning strategy with their accountants and legal advisors will have more chance of engineering a sale at the right time.