ITWales.com

FSB vows to fight law against incoming shifting

Small businesses in Wales and the rest of the UK may be pleased to know that the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is fighting their corner at Whitehall.

It has promised to fight "tooth and nail" to prevent the government passing legislation to ban income shifting, whereby couples who jointly own a firm divide the dividends between them to minimise their tax liabilities.

The FSB has described the proposed legislation as "a fundamental attack on family-run small businesses".

It has suggested that the governments decision to delay passing legislation on income shifting for a year could be an attempt to allow the bill to pass quietly and without a fuss in 2009.

Simon Briault, a spokesperson for the organisation, said: "It's another blow to small family firms who've seen their corporation tax rate rise and who've seen major changes to Capital Gains Tax."

The FSB is the largest pressure group in the UK representing the interests of owners of small firms and the self-employed, with over 205,000 members across 33 regions.

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