Changes to Capital Gains Tax that introduce a flat rate of 18% but allow \'entrepreneur relief\' on the sale of a businesss that reduce the rate to 10% on the first £1million, take effect from 6 April.

The flat rate was announced in the Chancellor\'s Autumn Statement along with the removal of the taper relief that would have hit the owners of small businesses particularly hard. Subsequently, the \'entrepreneur relief\' was added to the changes to help small businesses.

John Wright, National Chairman of The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), says: "The entrepreneurs\' relief is close to the proposals we put forward at the end of last year. They will go some way to protecting entrepreneurship in the UK as well as benefiting small business owners planning to pay for their retirement with the sale of their businesses."