A thought to share with any of you visiting this site. I spend much of my working life with entrepreneurs, all busily innovating and growing new businesses. Towards the end of last year I hosted a discussion at which a very successful venture founder was addressing a group of bankers. He has received a number of approaches to buy his business and may well sell before the end of 2008.
The audience was keen to hear his views on the proposal from the UK Treasury to raise the level of qualifying Capital Gains Tax from 10% to 18%. Would it discourage people like him from starting new ventures, and/or drive them into tax exile? It might discourage others from starting ventures, he said, but he wouldn't be seeking a new domicile in a tax haven. He would rather grit his teeth and pay up. When pressed, he said it was important not to lose sight of other values in his life. Business success bought him freedom to live life more fully. Would he rather be marooned on an offshore island and spend all his time miserably counting his money, or be a little less rich but happy in the company of friends and family in London? For him it was a no-brainer..
I retell the story not in defence of (yet) more taxation, but for the sake of a little perspective in my life and yours. It's easy to set the cost of things: a little more reflection is sometimes needed to gauge their value.
Happy New Year
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