As widely expected, the Chancellor has increased the rate of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) from Budget Day itself, so any transactions occurring on or after today are affected.
That means that any potential window that could have arisen, had the increase been delayed until April 2025, has been closed. 
The main rates of CGT are currently charged at a lower rate of 10% and a higher rate of 20%, and these were increased to 18% and 24% respectively from today.
These new rates will match the residential property rates, which are not changing – a move that will help landlords looking to sell their properties before April 2025, along with the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Lets regime.
However, good news for anyone exiting their company and looking to use Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), which has a rate of 10%, is in luck as this rate will not go up to 14% until 6 April 2025.
And the £1m lifetime limit for the relief has been retained. Entrepreneurs will breathe a sigh of relief.
Whilst the government is raising revenue by increasing CGT, it is ensuring that the UK tax system remains internationally competitive with headline rates below France, Germany and Italy.
Changing the rate of CGT does not necessarily bring in extra revenue for the government as asset owners can change their behaviour.
For example, an asset owner can choose not to sell, and someone considering buying an asset may choose to avoid doing so.
Business owners looking to exit via a solvent liquidation may look to accelerate their departure before April 2025 to make use of the lower BADR rate.
The Chancellor also announced that Inheritance Tax (IHT) business relief will be restricted in future (providing only a 50% relief over a £1m threshold), which will create a significant cashflow challenge for family businesses.
To exemplify the impact of the measures, if an entrepreneur completed on the sale of their business yesterday for, say, £2m, they would have had a £300,000 CGT bill.
If they sold today, they would pay £340,000. If they sold after April 2026, they would pay £420,000 in tax – a 40% increase in the amount of tax they would have paid before these changes were announced.
