Saga research with 13,040 over-50s shows 73% believe the Government should levy a lower rate on employee share schemes
The ‘Saga generation’ (of people aged 50 or over) also believes the rate of CGT levied on all kinds of assets should decline with the length of time an asset has been held.
More than three in five respondents (62%) thought the Government should not levy CGT on employee share schemes at all; almost three in four (73%) supported a lower rate of CGT.
Over a half of respondents (55%) believed that the profits from the sale of assets held for a long period of time should attract a lower rate of tax than those held for only a short period. Fewer than a quarter (23%) supported the current system whereby the time an asset is held has no effect on the level of CGT charge.
And almost half of respondents (45%) did not believe that the Government had a mandate to increase CGT, which was not mentioned in the Conservative manifesto; fewer than one in three (31%) felt they did have a mandate.
Paul Green, head of communications at Saga, said: Many in the Saga generation have prudently saved and built up investments to ensure they enjoy a more comfortable retirement and they are not a burden on their families or the taxpayer in their dotage.
We welcome measures that promote long-term investment and stop people merely re-labelling income as capital so as to reduce their tax bill. However, it is wrong that the rug is being pulled from beneath the retirement plans of those people who do the right thing. We believe it would be much fairer if CGT was tapered over, say, five years, so as to reward those who have saved diligently.
We also believe – as do many of our customers – that to support enterprise and employee participation, owning shares in the company that employs you should be treated as a ‘business asset’ and exempt from CGT.
