One curious effect of Mr Brown's Budget is that by in effect "retiring" retirement relief for Capital Gains Tax, he has created a golden opportunity for business owners.

That is, provided no changes are made to the Budget proposals in its passage through Parliament.

A disposal before April 6, 1999 could, under the right conditions, receive both retirement relief and its new replacement, taper relief.

This results in the once-in-a-lifetime chance to pay less tax.

It is also possible to create a disposal, and take the relief, without either retiring or losing the benefit and control of the business.

However, the phasing out of retirement relief is not all good news by any means.

For example, the size of the gain on disposal will have a disproportionate effect on the outcome.

If your gain is in the millions, then you can thank Mr Brown.

However, if it is below £1m, as it will be for many small and medium-sized businesses, you are the ones who will be paying more tax when you retire.

On a £500,000 gain, for instance, the taxpayer is marginally better off in 1998/99, but this or her position then deteriorates steadily as time goes on.

By 2004/05, when the taxpayer with the £1m gain starts to feel the benefit of the new relief, the taxpayer with the £500,000 gain will be paying more than half as much again in Capital Gains Tax as under the present system.

In these circumstances, if you are over 50 years of age, or you're just getting there, you should start taking advice now!

Paul Byrne is regional managing partner at Baker Tilly based in Bradford

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.