After some months of very little government decisiveness in Spain and UK, yesterday the UK Budget hardly woke us up.

As mentioned by one the Private Clients analysts at Deloitte, “…this was the third and possibly final Budget statement delivered by Chancellor Alistair Darling. It was clearly a statement made with an eye to the forthcoming General Election, but was relatively light on substance from the point of view of individual taxation. Whilst some of the changes announced had been raised in consultation documents issued some months earlier, others come as welcome surprises. The current favorable rate of capital gains tax is to remain and the maximum lifetime limit for Entrepreneurs’ Relief will be increased from the current level of £1 million to £2 million. The changes apply to disposals on or after 6 April 2010 and are a welcome recognition of the importance of entrepreneurial businesses to the UK economy. In the main, it is clear that further tax changes may be made following the General Election. Accordingly, this Budget statement should be seen as a work in progress.”