Emma Wall, chief investment strategist at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The Chancellor has delivered a blow to investor and early-stage businesses alike by slashing the tax relief available on venture capital trusts.
“The Budget speech led with the positive news that both annual and lifetime limits would be reviewed to support scale up and not just start-up companies.
“This will be warmly welcomed by the industry which has called for limits to be re-examined to support broader growth opportunities.
“But hidden in the small print of the Budget document was the detail that in order to ‘balance’ this change, the tax relief on VCTs would be cut from 30 per cent to 20 per cent following the 2025/26 financial bill – so investors have until the end of the tax year before the changes come into force.
“We are encouraged by the measures announced in the Budget to support a retail investment culture, including the stamp duty tax break for IPOs, and the British investment hub.
“However, the tax relief on VCTs has provided many investors with the incentive to support early-stage UK businesses, which in turn support the domestic economy – just the sort of growth this government is championing.
“This tax change seems counter to that agenda.”
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