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Capital Gains Tax

As I said earlier, the average gain under such employee schemes is between £2,000 and £3,000. Everybody in the country has an annual exemption for capital gains tax of £9,200—every year—so the vast majority of people would come nowhere near paying CGT. The number of people who benefit from capital gains tax exemption in such schemes is growing, because more people are in such schemes. I want to encourage that; I have always believed that employee share ownership schemes should be supported. My proposals will help small businesses, and the annual exemption, which will go up again in April, will ensure that many of the people about whom my right hon. Friend is concerned will be more than covered.