We are at any time now expecting confirmation of the Government's plans to change Capital Gain Tax particularly as they affect business.

Although not officially confirmed yet it is rumoured that the rate will be halved to 9% on gains of up to £750,000 on the buying and selling of business assets although the assets qualifying for a lower rate are not known. 

Promised before Christmas and then delayed while ministers considered the mess they had got themselves into with the rash and poorly judged previous proposals to increase capital gains tax on business sales to 18% (an 80% increase) we are still awaiting confirmation.

The original proposals seemed to be Alistair Darling trying to make his mark after 10 year with Gordon Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer and were rushed out in the Pre Budget Report.

The rate of capital gains tax for investors and people with rented residential properties, second properties,  holiday homes and other non "business" investments is due to be cut substantially by anything between 22% to 16% depending on how long the asset had been held.

With the hugh growth in Buy to Let Properties as investments quite why Government has chosen to penalise business investors in favour of Landlords is not clear but that is the route Government seems to be taking.

It could be perhaps that many career MPs have second properties, and property portfolios but little business skills or understanding?   Afterall we are now starting to see the big cracks in the ecomomy after 10 years of Gordon Brown. Petrol soon to be over £5 a gallon, other fuel prices rising by up to 23%, Council Tax bills going up by over twice the rate of inflation. Many businesses putting their prices up due to the fast rising cost of living and trading. Overall an inflation position due to go nowhere but up. So what will Government due? It's Government's and Bank of England's only answer it seems is to drop interest rates. Basically the UK economy revolves around interest rates. Probably a reflection of the trilllions of personal debts now in the UK which are not going to go away. Personally I think dropping interest rates as they have in the UK will just mean when we do get the correction that is due, it will be all the more harsh.

Afterall Japan had almost 0% interest rates at one point and that economy still nose dived. Trying to run an economy based on interest rates to me seem flawed and a sign of just how flimsey the UK economy has now become.