I set up a small business in 1997 - delighted with the 10% taper relief available to me as a reward for my risk. I now employ fifteen people and the business is mature. Just when the hard work has been done and I am thinking of selling, the carrot has been replaced with the stick - I feel I have been suckered by the government. Did Brown plan this apalling reversal ten years ago?

Steve Smith, London,

After 20 years of owning and running a small hotel and several self-catering cottages we put the lot on the market as a "retirement sale". The "Gain" over the years was good enough but my wife and I worked 7-days a week, 16 hours a day for it. With CGT Taper relief now going unless we sell before next April (unlikely) there will be an additional £120,000 CGT to pay. We will likely withdraw from sale and continue to operate until we drop, or there is a change of government and law.

Grant, Aviemore, UK

“When people have settled down, they’ll see it is still a very competitive rate,” a senior Treasury official said. “Has it really blunted the entrepreneurial incentive at 18%?”

Sounds like a loan offer,but exactly who is the "competition"?

garden trash, Manchester, England

Yes, it has blunted the entrepeneurial incentive... but what would a treasury twit that has never owned or run a business know?

Chantel, UK,

Tax rates in the U.K. can only go up, in order to fund the incredible squandering by the Labour Government. The sooner they are booted out of office the better. The Health service has to totally re-invented, from the ground up ! If you want to know how to organise it, look at the system in Australia.

steve fisher, brisbane, australia

What do the following have in common?
1. Buy shares at 11am and sell them at 2pm.
2. Buy a property and flip it.
3. Sweat 65 hrs/week for 8 years trying to keep a business viable, growing and employing UK tax payers.

Answer: your capital gain is taxed at the same rate from April. A monumental disaster for UK SME owners and the entrepreneurial aspiration.

I'm on my third start-up. The second one didn't work out as planned, which is why the taper relief is currently set just right to give me the motivation to have another go. Note, therefore, that comparisons of fully tapered CGT with income tax are irrelevant as, unlike income, attempting to generate capital gain through business start-up entails risk and potential loss.

This change was supposedly designed to hit a hundred odd high-rolling private equity guys, not tens of thousands of small business owners. Don't think much of Darling's targetting.

My fourth start-up will be in the US if this stupid tax change goes through.

Philip, London, UK

We own a knowledge-based export business which we started-up in the UK.

Following our initial start-up investments, we are lining up some significant contracts for 2008-2009, the gains from which will make the company profitable and would have benefited the UK.

As a result of the CGT change, we have instructed our accountants to compile a report outlining our options for withdrawal from the United Kingdom at our earliest convenience.

Fortunately, being a knowledge-based enterprise, our investment is portable.

Our UK expansion plans have been cancelled. We will not take more risks and re-invest in an economy managed by an untrustworthy administration.

Matt, London, UK