Sigh of relief for UK tech founders as Labour hikes capital gains tax by less than feared

cnbc.com:

LONDON — Britain's Labour government on Wednesday announced plans to raise the rate of capital gains tax on share sales, news that offered some relief for technology entrepreneurs who feared a more intense tax raid on the wealthy.

Finance Minister Rachel Reeves on Wednesday hiked capital gains tax (CGT) — a levy on the profit investors make from the sale of an investment — as part of her far-reaching budget announcement. The lower capital gains tax rate will be increased to 18% from 10%, while the higher rate will climb to 24% from 20%, Reeves said. The tax hikes are expected to bring in £2.5 billion.

«We need to drive growth, promote entrepreneurship and support wealth creation, while raising the revenue required to fund our public services and restore our public finances,» Reeves said, adding that, even with the higher rate, the U.K. would «still have the lowest capital-gains tax rate of any European G7 economy.»

Reeves maintained the £1 million lifetime limit on capital gains from the sale of all or part of a company under business asset disposal relief (BADR), quashing fears from entrepreneurs that the tax relief scheme for entrepreneurs would be scrapped.

However, she added that the rate of CGT applied to entrepreneurs selling all or part of their business under BADR will be increased to 14% in 2025 and 18% a year later. She stressed that this still represented a «significant gap compared to the higher rate of capital gains tax.»

In a less welcome move for businesses, Reeves also announced plans to increase the rate of National Insurance (NI) — a tax on earnings — for employers. The current rate is 13.8% on a worker's earnings above £9,100 per year. This is set to rise to 15% on salaries above £5,000 a year.

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