Budget 2011: Death knell for solar VCTs

Venture Capital Trust providers warn solar VCTs may cease to exist following George Osborne's latest proposals.

Despite a broadly supportive Budget for VCTs, which included plans to give them wider investment remits, solar power-focused businesses will be added to an excluded activities list, meaning they will lose their tax breaks. Unicorn fund manager Chris Hutchinson says this means solar VCTs are effectively "dead in the water". "I echo George Osborne's comments a VCT should invest in genuine businesses which in turn creates genuine employment and helps grow the economy, as opposed to these solar VCTs which were only set up to take advantage of the double tax break," he says. Julian Hick...