SHIELD EMPLOYEE SHARE SCHEMES FROM CGT HIKE, SAYS POLL OF OVER-50s

SAGA
PRESS RELEASE

June 20, 2010.

SHIELD EMPLOYEE SHARE SCHEMES FROM CGT HIKE, SAYS POLL OF OVER-50s

   •  Saga research with 13,040 over-50s shows 73% believe the Government should levy lower rate on employee share schemes.

The Saga Generation is opposed to increased Capital Gains Tax on employee share schemes, and also believes that the rate of CGT levied on all kinds of asset should decline with the length of time an asset has been held.

Those are two of the main findings of a poll of over-50s, conducted by Saga.

More than three in five respondents (62%) thought that 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 Capital Gains Tax charge.

Finally, 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, 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.”

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

Paul Green

Head of Communications

Saga Group Ltd

Tel: 07714 414 859

paul.green.pr@saga.co.uk

Editorial Notes:

*Based on Saga Populus data carried out on 13,040 customers aged 50+ on an online poll between 11th and 17th June 2010