According to a report by RSM Tenon, Northern entrepreneurs have failed to take advantage of the doubling of entrepreneurs’ relief to £10 million. The report, Business Barometer is a survey carried out on senior managers of small businesses every three months. The results of the latest survey indicate that almost 10 percent of entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom were considering the sale of their business following the rise in tax relief. However, only two percent of businesses were situated in Northern England.

Entrepreneurs’ relief was increased in April 2011 by the chancellor George Osborne, with the lifetime limit being doubled from £5 million to £10 million. This effectively reduces the amount of tax payable on Capital Gains when you sell a business or the assets of a business, provided you meet the relevant criteria. Calculations by RSM Tenon indicate that the government expect 250 business sales to occur in the year 2014, presuming that a deal is between £5m and £10m. However, the report also revealed that entrepreneurs’ relief was only recognised by 14 percent of entrepreneurs from Northern England.

The regional director of RSM Tenon for the North, Neil Sevitt said:

“The last budget introduced some good incentives for entrepreneurs in the bid to encourage growth in investment into business. These figures seem to suggest that this has had the desired effect and business disposals in the UK are now back on the agenda.”

Sevitt also said he was interested by the fact that just two percent of northern business would contemplate selling. He believes that the unsettled economy may be the reason for this hesitance.

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Gary Fields

Content Writer working alongside our expert accountants to bring you the latest Tax and Accounting news.

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