NVM chief defends tax breaks for smaller VC deals
Article Date: Jun 19 2007Michael Denny, executive chairman of NVM Private Equity, says that the consequences of increasing taxation on smaller venture capital (VC) deals could be ‘hugely detrimental’. But he stops short of defending the status quo for the top end of the private equity industry.
‘There’s an awful lot of huff and puff from [private equity] managers about their own tax position,’ Denny tells GrowthBusiness.co.uk. ‘My guess after 30 years of doing this is that when push comes to shove, they will put up and shut up. They won’t migrate to the Cayman Islands.’
Denny’s remarks follow weeks of media speculation and heated political debate about the tax breaks enjoyed by private equity. Under current legislation, once investments have been held for two years, any growth in them is treated as capital gains and taxed at ten per cent. In many other countries, such gains are taxed as income.
‘At my end of the business people get a salary,’ Denny adds. ‘At the larger end, the salary is irrelevant – managers live on the capital. But they are not really risking their own money.
‘With a start-up, the entrepreneur is definitely risking their own money. Their supporters are also risking their own money, and have hands-on involvement in the companies. It’s a different business.’
Denny argues that enterprise outside London and the South East would suffer particularly if smaller VC deals were taxed more heavily.
‘Trying to encourage people in Wales or the North of England to take entrepreneurial risks is vital,’ he explains. ‘We need these entrepreneurs away from London.’
