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However, the reported £100,000 relief for owners of small businesses who sell up and retire has not been rejected out of hand.
Head of tax at business advisers Tenon Group, Andrew Jupp, said the latest move by the Chancellor — who, it is understood, will not be backtracking on his plan to withdraw taper relief — was 'very much a token gesture', likely to only help well-established owner-managed businesses.
He added that the newly touted relief would 'not get to the heart of entrepreneurship' and there was 'still no distinction between personal gain and business gain'.
But Mr Jupp also said he was pleased that Alistair Darling had 'listened to concerns', and he conceded that the newly proposed relief was 'better than nothing'.
'Now we need certainty,' he said, 'so that investors can plan for the future. We want to see draft legislation being introduced as soon as possible'.
Meanwhile, Peter Penneycard, a tax partner at accountants PKF, criticised the latest news of a CGT change, saying it illustrated 'short-term, on-the-hoof setting of tax policy rather than considered policy designed to achieve clear economic objectives'.
Mr Penneycard went on claim that 'the tax simplification achieved through abolishing taper relief was welcome, but the Chancellor should have extended the rules around the Enterprise Investment Scheme to allow owner-managers to invest in their businesses free of CGT.
'The most worrying thing is that the Government appears to be using tax policy to address political criticism. That's a recipe for economic chaos, which will frighten entrepreneurs away from the UK.'
The Treasury refused to be drawn on the matter — yet to be officially announced — and simply repeated its earlier line that 'a simplified tax system for capital gains is the right thing to do and will make the system more straightforward and sustainable while incentivising investment and enterprise'.
