Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget report 2007

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There will be a rush on business sales before 6 April next year, as business owners are set to be hit with an 80% increase on the tax they pay when disposing of their businesses, according to leading tax expert Grant Thornton.

The abolition of taper relief and a new capital gains tax rate of 18%, up from 10%, announced in today's Pre-Budget Report, is also set to put massive pressure on the private equity industry, which is already feeling the sharp end of the credit crunch.

Grant Thornton Corporate Tax Partner, Stephen Quest, said the across the board increase in capital gains was in effect an 80% rise in what is currently paid.

It is also a major disincentive for private equity executives to take the risks they were currently taking, and a factor likely to negatively impact the industry's recruitment and retention rates.

The next 12 months are already set to be extremely difficult for buy-out firms, who have reported their most negative forward looking expectations ever in a survey carried out by Grant Thornton Corporate Finance last week, with the majority of private equity executives (63%) predicting a downturn in deal values.

Quest said PE firms would now be reassessing their present models, and even the competitiveness of remaining in the UK.

"This has certainly shifted the goal posts for private equity at a time when it has been predicted by those in the industry that the value of deals is set to fall considerably. Following this massive increase, we can only hope private equity firms remain open to taking the risks on underperforming businesses that they have done in the past, given the likelihood of more UK corporates experiencing financial pressure over the coming year as the credit shortage filters through the economy."

"This is the most negative forecast we have ever seen from the private equity sector and a huge drop in confidence from just three months ago, and with the capital gains tax increase announced today, it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming train," concluded Quest.