Budget is taxing the spreadies

I see that there's much speculation in financial freesheet, City AM, that previously tax-free spread betting gains are going to be clobbered with capital gains tax in the emergency budget.

That would be a monumentally stupid move, as one of the unspoken facts about the spread betting industry is that most punters don't actually win, so the government would be introducing a new rule where most of them could simply write their routine losses off against tax.

Michael Fallon, the Tory MP tipped to chair the Treasury Select Committee, is well aware of all this, but the stories are still causing much consternation among the spreadies, as such a move would cancel one of the industry's big draws.

To illustrate how dear they hold their tax-free selling point, one provider has just shelled out on a massive ad campaign which is ready to go straight after the budget. It plans to inform punters that they can counter any CGT rises by using tax-free spread betting. Let's hope City AM has got its facts wrong.