On March 17, the Chancellor will announce his first spring Budget.

Although we have already had the so-called windfall and Green budgets, this one is the first chance for the Chancellor to introduce his promised review of tax loop-holes and anti-avoidance provisions.

Predicting the possible areas to be affected by budget changes is perhaps not that difficult this year as we have a new Government committed to a review of a number of areas of direct taxation.

Capital taxes are likely to feature significantly in the Budget with the reform of capital gains tax and inheritance tax both on the agenda.

Although the Government wishes to encourage the role that the entrepreneur plays in helping the growth of small "acorn" businesses, they have also made it clear that they intend to look closely at the current capital gains tax reliefs available.

Retirement relief, for individuals over 50 selling a private company, is a very useful relief where people can receive the first £250,000 of gains tax free and the next £750,000 of gain only taxed at half the normal rate.

For individuals currently considering the disposal of a family business, action should be taken immediately in order to make use of this generous benefit.

Business rollover and holdover reliefs may also be attacked or altered severely and, therefore, it may be advantageous to review all impending business asset acquisitions and disposals carefully to utilise existing reliefs.

Jeremy Roff is a partner with Coopers & Lybrand

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